Saltburn by-the-sea, North Yorkshire

Holla!

My munchkin girlfriends and I went to Saltburn to get a little breeze of the beach.

And oh boy,  what a breeze!

It was more like a mini tornado blowing at in our direction constantly, making us simply moving forward was a struggle.

But the view was beyond magnificent.

 

Thank you for tuning in peeps!

xoxo

Happy Ramadhan 2014!

Selamat ber..eh!

Heip!

Selamat Berbu..ah? Move your tangan people!

Selamat Berbuka and Happy Ramadhan to all!

I'm celebrating the holy month of Ramadhan this year in Middlesbrough, UK.

Syukur Alhamdulillah.

Do you know how many hours the Muslim has to fast in England this year?

Its 20.5 hours

Starts from 2.30 am till 9.40pm (on average)

Hats off to all the Muslim in England.

I thank God Allah SWT for easing my way to perform my fast this year.

For awhile there all the memories of my Ramadhan in the last 6 years runs through my mind like a flash back.

The time when I was in my diploma years, where 6 of my friends would gather in a really confined space on the floor to have our buka puasa every day.

And then during my degree years where one of my girlfriend has a car that year so we would go to bazaar and shop our tummy out for food almost every day.

Those nasi kukus and ayam goreng berempah in Shah Alam..aah..heaven!

Then those speedy break fast with my colleagues from work and the girlfriends while spilling the juiciest gossips of the month even though we only had like 1 hour to eat and pray.

Aaa..women and gossips, you know what they say. XOXO Gossip Girl

And right to the Ramadhan last year where I was in a complete mess. 

Ramadhan 2012, yes I was in a major complete mess

And this year, I'm having such a blissful Ramadhan with my friends in our new home.

Not to mention the endless break fast menu where we have trouble of deciding which is which for our menu today.

We even have a whatsapp group dedicated to discuss on what food to cook today.

Outrageous, I know. 

I even brought my bread pudding to bed to feed my already bulging tummy

And yet I'm still hoping on getting a Miranda Kerr's body by end of this month. Sigh

Till then peeps, Happy Ramadhan to all!

xoxo

Lazy-bum

 

A quick breakfast after the gym at The Baker Street Kitchen

 

Before I wanted to write this post, I had so many ideas to share with you like my travelling journeys, the silly things my friends did and the wonderful memories that God has granted me to.

 

But as I 'm writing this post, my mood seems to be.

 spiralling down the drain.

In the beginning of today, life was good.

I started my morning by heading to the bakery to fetch some warm scones and chocolate croissant for breakfast.

 Then I do the dishes, get the laundry done and head to the library.

Here is where my tantrum starts to creep in.

I am SO LAZY to get my final year project writing done.

 I have been delaying it for more than a month now.

God..

 Imagine dragging myself form the floor to the library computer just to type a sentence.

 The struggle is so unbearable.

Only a plain authentic lazy-bum like me would've understand the feeling.

 

 I have been sitting in the library for an hour with no progress on the writing part except I managed to get my Candy Crush levels up, browse few cake recipes, ate another chocolate croissant, blogging, and add a song playlist on my mobile phone. 

 

WHAT AM I DOING?

**Cries**

 

How do you get yourself motivated to keep your writing going?

Long silence......and then I came out with no idea.

 

Help!

 

 

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

 

Baked these Blondies/Congo bar last week, twice.

Got the recipes from here

It tasted like baked cookies dough.

 

 

Expect the end product to be very gooey and thick.

I reduce the sugar amount to 3/4 from the recipe the second time I baked it.

The first one had a sugar content that were toooo sweet  for my liking.

 

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

 

 

xoxo..cries..

How to be beautiful?

Met with these wonderful people that gave me a journey with memories worth to remember forever

I was on holiday for 2 weeks straight, back-packing between 4 countries with my friends.

It was my first time travelling back packing so I had this vision in my mind to packed light, be practical and choose comfort  over fashion in my clothing.

I had an image in my mind where I'll be travelling in my  sport shoes, no-iron shirts, messy up dos and faded jeans.

But oh boy, was I wrong

My friends packed their sophisticated leather boots, Zara jacket, Marc Jacobs perfume and Chanel make ups lines, with perfect honey mustard cardigans, feminine crisp stripe shirts and 100£ Superdry jacket.

They all look fierecely awesome in every picture snap along our journey and there I was, the most chowkia one in the pictures.

In the mid of the trip,  one of my companion express her joy that it was such a bliss for her to went travelled with me because she thought I was awesome. 
(Well- duh!)

So she said that we should go to Paris together for our winter holiday this year to indulge in macaroons and Longchamps shopping handbags.

But then she said the darnest thing..

' Reena, nanti pergi Partis kena pakai lawa-lawa tau. Sebab orang kat sana semua pakai lawa-lawa '

I laughed and said ok. 

But at that point I knew, I was obviously the selekeh one among my friends.

Sad. Its just plain sad.

To be honest, I don't know or have the faintest idea on how to be drop dead gorgeous?

I mean I love classy and plain colours elegant clothes and all.

I love Palzzo pants, Kimono cardigans and artificial-fashion leather bags.

But I just don't think I can rock them.

Plus I'm in the UK for God's sake.

Do you know how strong the wind gets here?

Given that Middlesbrough is in north of UK.

Which means the weather temperature are higher than most states down south and I have to wear winter jackets all the time.

How am I going going to walk with poise when the UK blizzard keeps hitting my face everyday 5 secs once I got out the door.

Not to mention ruining my perfectly done hair.

Its cold even in the spring.

I could not afford to bring myself to wear linen or single layer clothes.

I'm that girl who'd choose comfort over beauty.

I tied my hair so my hair won't get to my face.

I wear knitted and thick shirts so that it keeps me warm every second of the day.

I wear sneakers everyday because hell, I need to keep my feet warm and comfy too.

So how the hell am I going to be beautiful in Paris?

Its a dilemma that I have been figuring out for the past 25 years.

And please, don't even think to talk about inner beauty on me.

I'm gonna boo you at the face.

**cries**

 ****************

 Netherlands

April 2014

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

Till then, xoxo

Grateful

Its almost spring time here in Middlesbrough. Hooray!

After freezing my bones out in the last winter, a little bit of sun was more than a bliss.

Finally I can wear shorts while walking around town.

Bahaha..as if that's gonna happen. 

If it did, I'll look like a whale wearing tights!

Anyway life has been filled with ups and down since the start of the year.

I've been struggling with few assessments, felt deserted by my busy hummingbirds in KL, hook up with an amazing new girlfriends, managed to pass my exams without any glitch and the best part of it, 

I think I've found myself back. 

Its been awhile since last I can say that.

Syukur Alhamdulillah Ya Allah. 

It took me so long to get through these phase and I'm almost there. I am finally me again. 

I've started to laugh out loud, enjoying myself in a crowd, restored my unlimited urge to daydream all the time and I've added going to the gym as a routine! Haha

For whats it worth, it felt good to be me again. 

It felt good to be silly and clumsy. 

It felt really good to be me.

It has been a very looong journey, God knows!

But to my dearest friends who are and always have been the love of my life, I love you to bits. 

I am forever grateful to You Ya Allah for blessing me with these wonderful people around me and for giving me such a humble life that I could have never imagine.

Okey, dah macam speech menang award pulak kan. Hee. 

But truly I am grateful when I think back of all the things that they had done for me. 

I am one lucky girl in that department.

I hope we all are being bless in the same way.

XOXO

Love you!

Buddies

Breakfast at Nero's. Yup, the unhealthy kind with chocolate full throtle

Hello gorgeous people!

How have you been?

I know I'm good and I can't stop be thankful to Allah SWT for that.

I just finished  my exams earlier this month and been travelling to meet my friends in Cardiff and Manchester.

Both short trip has been nothing but filled with pure happiness and self-celebration.

Just though want to share something.

When I first arrived here at Teesside, I did not when through the commotion called homesick.

As arrogant as it sounds, I actually experienced another side of the longing which was I miss my friends back in KL a lot. Like really A LOT.

I even went through a short depression trip when I miss them too much and I had no buddies here in the first 5 months.

Back in KL, I'll always have my monthly food hunting sessions with my girlfriends, occasional dinner with my colleagues and chilling out at mamak till wee hours in the morning with McDonalds sundae's to wrap it up with my hummingbirds.

So what happen was after the exam, I took an impromptu trip to Cardiff and Manchester to meet my friends.

Just to get away from the town awhile.
 But first I bought myself these giant meal to celebrate the last day of exams

And then Subahanallah, God has blessed me with a heaven trip in both places.

Despite the rain and 108 miles/hour cold wind blowing in my faces, I guess God still works His mysterious ways to sneak in the happiness and blissful of a friendship through these people.

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

Cardiff

Had a cup of hot chocolate at one of the most authentic  coffee shops called Coffee Barker

Thanks Nadiya for being the most competent photographer!

Thank you Fida for causing me to unzip my pants on my way back home sebab bagi makan banyak sangat

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

Manchester

I had expereinced the worst wind ever in Manchester.

I was told that the wind was blowing 108 mph that night

This guy actually cooked me a nasi lemak for breakfast when I was there. Sumpah sweet

I came back from both trips with a happy heart and a cold, unfortunately.

But I was grateful. I started to feel that I had find myself back and feel the love of a friendship again.

The best part was, I was greeted by my Teesside girlfriends with same amount of love here after.

And just like that I have found my buddies here.
Bless them
*************
Guess what, its finally snowing here in Middlesbrough!!

HAHA. The most jakon person in the world to see actual snow.
I was practically screeming by the road side when the snow rain on us.
Hee.
Till then , toodles peeps! xoxo

Hair Loss in January

Since I came to Middlesbrough, I am all about food food food though there's only a  little what the town could offer in terms of that. 

But the supermarket is epic and it has all the ingredients heaven could offer and that is enough. 

I'm not a besetting baker here like I used to be at home.  But cooking has been my oyster since I'm here. 

When I first arrived here at my hostel, I was only  granted one door kitchen cabinet and I thought that was enough to keep my cooking supplies and all. 

But 1 month later, I hog  two-door kitchen cabinet caused my food supplies has over flow!

Thank God for the understanding hall-mates that doesn't seem to mind. Wehoo!

I guess I have substitute my passion for cooking over baking here. But still baking remains at the heart. Whenever I'm scrolling down the Pinterest Food section, I keep having mini plans to expand Bluepandacakes and the menu.
I've also been Google-ing any baking course in Paris that I could attend to cause I'm dying to  learn how to make a perfect macaroons but don't know if I could afford it.

I saw few instagram account of Malaysians who previously took baking course in Paris-itself and then came back to Malaysia and held their own classes. May be I should get those sign up when I'm back in Malaysia. Hmm..

 Mean while, did you know I have massive hair loss issue.
Mama said  not to take hot water shower cause it'll increase hair loss.
But mama, umm.. in case you haven't notice, its like freezing here, hot shower is the only true-heat where my body can endeavor during the winter season. 

So I bought this product from the local pharmacy and ought to give it a go for one month to see the results. 

I envy those ladies with thick hair and vav-va voom volume  hair who looks like Eva Longoria whenever they walk, even when with the awful wind blowing in their faces. 

Aaaa..physical beauty can be a vain. 

Praying that this chemical will worked my hair scalps like Eva Longoria's gorgeous hair.

Till then folks, Happy January!

xoxo

Hindi Movie in UK cinema

Miss Miera and me

I was browsing online for The Hobbit movie in the cinema until I saw this add. 

Pic courtesy of http://bollyspice.com/70239/meet-aaliya-katrina-kaif-dhoom-3

I was like what, cerita hindustan main kat sini. Say what!!!

Here's the trailer. 

I wanted to watch the movie like sangat.

Being a hindustan addict myself, watching this movie in cinema is crucial.

They have Aamir Khan in it for God sake.

I don't need any other reason to convince me other than that.

Once I saw the screening time,  I was set on going alone since who (non-indian I mean) would want to watch Hindi movies here right?

Even my besties didn't get this part of me, let alone here, in pekan Middlesbrough.

So I said to myself just go and watch alone since the cinema is like 15 mins walk from where I live.

The last time I catch a movie in the local cinema here is The Hunger Games on the third day after its release. 

Given that we only bought the tickets like 5 mins before the movie started and surprise, surprise, the cinema wasn't even full. 

 Which is why I was confident enough that I didn't even need to book a ticket for this Hindi movie.

But to my dismay, when I arrived at the cinema 1 hour before the screening time, 

the show was popping up SOLD OUT in red on the screening board.

I was devastated. Like spiraling down to my stomach-devastated.

How can the movie sold out? Like how?

 Sedih sangat that I even blurred out to my girlfriends here about it.

And one of them who were so sweet said:

"Kalau awak nak ajak saya teman, boleh je"

Isn't she the sweetest?

*mata berair sikit*

I told her that I want to watch it soon and she said cool, lets go tomorrow. 

We went arm and arm the next day and she took the liberty to booked the ticket as precaution.

When we finally got the tickets, I was ecstatic. 

She said this was her first time watching Hindi Movie in a cinema, I told her not to worry cause this movie is definitely worth it

When we walked in the cinema, it was house-full and we're like the only non-indian in the room looking for our seats.

One of the Indian couple even look at us with 

are-you-sure-you're-in-the-right-cinema look. 

Haha. 

Come to Malaysia darling, you and I we're share a country and the cinema.

Finally we managed to find a seat and settled down. Then Mira asked me a question

"Ada subtitle tak?"

Why in the hell did I not thought of that?

We both turned our head around and saw only Indians in the room.

The trailers that they played prior to the movie started has no subtitles on it.

My heart starts sinking.

Until we finally saw the word printed on the screen translating the language when the movie started.

 And we both smile.

Thank heavens!

The first stunt in the movie got a laugh from half of the audience. 

Its a scene where Aamir Khan was riding a bike steadily on a 

single rubber rope (or rubber string, I don't know what they call it)

Even Mira laughes. 

So I told her " Kalau nak tengok hindustan, tak boleh pakai akal, kena pakai hati"

But we can't help to laughed again at the next stunt.

Hehe.

Fun times.

And since the movie is like 3 hours long, 

they have 15 minutes loo-break after the first one and half an hour.

When the movie ended, I was shock to hear when Mira said,

"Tunggu habis lagu closing ni baru balik"

I was just about to said the same thing but there you go.

I had managed to infect a friend with the hindustan awesomeness. 

But all in all we had fun.

Thanks M!

Us. Sitting gleefully in the movie theater 

====================

 Till the, toodles peeps!

xoxo