Fieldwork at CEH, Edinburgh

A few days after raya, we headed off to Peebles, Scotland for my fieldwork. The driving took us 8 hours and we arrived at the B&B around 10pm. Tired and hungry, we were aghast to be welcomed by a very old lady. Really old....dah bongkok tiga! She owns and runs the place all by herself! Tabik spring betul. Bila aku siasat2 (biasa la...aku kan inspektor sahab), rupanya umur dia dah 81 tahun! Larat dia runs the 2-storey B&B sorang2.....

The room was masssive, with high ceiling (ala2 Edwardian/Victorian style?) and full of character. The furnitures were large to compensate for the big room. Terasa lavish pun ye jugak. We had full English breakfast (minus the sausages), cereals and puddings, in the morning. Not bad la. Cumanya puddings tu aku rasa from the tinned one so memang agak kureng le.

Welcome to Scotland!

English border

Rest area at the Scottish Border

Northumberland, among the most beautiful in England

Alia got her own bed at the B&B - not 1 but 2 ! White and fluffy.

English style B&B. Antique furniture and lace everywhere. Yang tak best, katilnya kecik sebab we got 3 single bed...so mama and ayah share the same bed, Alia got 2 to choose from!

Posing depan B&B tue....

Backyard garden at the B&B. Full of roses of different varieties.

White bench for a relaxing afternoon....
The view was spectacular

Here we are...in Peebles

Old town of Peebles

After having our breakfast we drove off to the Whim bog. Researchers from Centre of Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) have been conducting the research since 2000. So I will utilize the ready-made respond of algae towards diferent treatments of wet and dry nitrogen deposition. Senang sebab tak payah tunggu bertahun-tahun untuk tengok result, susah sebab kena datang lagi next year for the transect study and kena kira algae tu individually under the microscope. The next day, we went to CEH head office in Edinburgh for data analysing tapi malangnya they were reluctant to let me anywhere near their hi-tech microscope 'cos their technician was off sick that day. Abis camno? Makcik pun blah le....pegi duduk kat Travelodge and berkurung kat situ, siapkan report. Even so, sempat le jugak jalan2 sikit.

Lady at work...sejuk giler ni!

Me and my acting supervisor.......

Tengah mengorek algae off the peat bog. Yang macam rumput tu ialah Calluna vulgaris, common species in heathland ecosystem.

Ibunya tertonggeng2 bekerja, anaknya sibuk berposing.

One for the album

Sempat le kami jenguk Royal Botanic Garden kejap....siangnya berkurung in the hotel room je...buat keja.

Taman oh taman

This part of the garden, bau wangi......

Impressive! Mesti susah nak maintain kan..tingggiii

Tropical glass house kat belakang nun tapi dah tutup so bergambo je le....

Alia the butterfly

Penat berjalan, bertenggek plak.

Then esoknya sempat gak kami pegi Heriot-Watt university, tempat hubby blaja dulu. Hajat di hati nak gi jumpa his ex-supervisor...saja la nak say hello but (as expected), he was not in. So kami melilau in the area je.....

School lama hubby

Tasik kat depan school

Anak daraku yang suka berposing






With one of the co-founder, Mr Watt.

Sepanjang kat Scotland, kami makan kebab and masak nasi kat hotel. We brought along our old rice cooker since my hubby cannot live without rice. Berasap2 bilik hotel tu....takpe la, janji kenyang perut suka hati. Oh, for those yang nak tour Edinburgh, dengan 3 pounds bus ticket you have unlimited ride around Edinburgh for the whole day. Parking space was a nightmare so baik naik bas. We all hari tu tak sempat sebab last day baru perasan offer ni.


Jumpa lagi!

Lazytown Live at High Wycombe

Ni cerita bulan puasa hari tu. A little late but I just have to write an entry about it sebagai kenangan untuk Alia bila dia besar nanti. We went to High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire for a Lazytown Live Show. Alia is a real follower of Lazytown series. She has this idea that she is, however ..... Stephanie of Lazytown....

The cheapest ticket was priced at 17 pounds per person but I was lucky to get it for 2.50 pounds per person!! So 5 pounds for a pair of ticket. Thanks to e-bay. Otherwise I won't fork out that much money just for a show. However I have to buy another ticket for my hubby - standard price. Takpe la. Once in a while, kan. For those yang suka nengok show, concert atau yang seumpama dengannya, Ticketmaster sometimes offer a real bargain, as low as 5 pounds per ticket (RRP 17++).

The show was quite fun. Lots of singing and dancing and the best part was when all the kiddies jumped off their seats and sang along! Alia malu2 tapi mau. Parents were very supportive as they too joined the crowd and danced! Halfway through the show ada intermission. So we wandered around the theatre and Alia was bugging us to buy the sparkly thingy. Oh, tak kuasa nak melayan. Banyak betul Lazytown merchandise yang dijual, memang terkeluar air liur budak2 melihatnya. As for me, aku rasa not worth buying 'cos it will only last 4 hours then mana2 tah dibuangnya nanti.

Well...here's the Stephanie (Malay version) in action....

Sooooooooo happy...sengih sampai telinga

Anxious for the show to start

The venue : Wycombe Swan

No photographs and videos were allowed while it is on show, so boleh amik gambar masa org nak balik je........

Stephanie wouldn't let go off the counter...nak jugak aku beli barang2 Lazytown tu.

Mom pun nak masuk gambar jugak....

All in all, the show was pretty great (considering I paid a fraction of the the price). But if you have to pay for normal price, rasanya best lagi nengok kat tv kot.......

The Journey continues......

SALAM SEMUA!

Apologies for not updating this blog for a longgggggggg time. My hubby was here since August and since then we have been sooooo busy (mind you!). We have moved into our new (rented, of course) house, not far away from my uni but close enough to Alia's school. Closer to Malay community here, so there have been plentiful of activities for mums, dads and kids alike!

Let's start with raya. We celebrated Eid with the many Malays here, and also with the mak2 and pak2 Arabs. Sembahyang raya and then having a small feast. There was lots of sweet desserts-variety of cakes and biscuits, chocolates and the savoury ones - turkey ham croissants, sandwiches (oh, so English!) and many more. Then we headed to Maswa's house for nasi himpit, lontong, rendang, and a special dish from Sue (lupa apa nama masakannya).

Lepas isi perut, off we went to Royal Holloway University of London (RHUL) for photo sessions. Kids were the happiest as they run and jump in the lush green field. After a handful of 'sengih sana sengih sini', we decided that it was time to leave for Malaysia High Commision's open house in London.

Malay Community in Egham : Raya 2009

Jamuan lepas smayang raya

Muslims of different races celebrate the Eid together.

with the Duta Besar

Rumah Malaysia

Kat depan rumah Duta Besar Malaysia

This year, we have decided that all open houses will be held at only one venue. Tak macam last year, door-to-door open houses, sampai penat badan. So semua orang kena bawak makanan yang telah ditetapkan. Mine was bihun sup. It was very merry (not my bihun...the celebration, hehehe). For K Izan's open house, the main menu was nasi dagang ikan tongkol. I bough a very humble apple pie for her.

Posing mak-mak dara

Oh, I almost forgotten of the invitation for iftar from frens. First was from Sue, at Huntersdale. And then me and Maswa c0-organised the 2nd one at Larksfield. Later was at Asad's in Sunninghill and the last one was by Sofia at Silwood Park.

The moms squashing themselves in my tiny kitchen while the dads smayang terawih.

Barisan bapak2 mithali

Gulai mackerel masak lemak tempoyak

Ayam masak lemak

Really love Win's otak2, freshly made from Kuala Selangor.

We had chicken beriani at Sofia's

Khirr- the Pakistani sweet dessert

Adrees n wife

Yuppp...that was my Ramadhan and Raya for 2009. Alhamdulillah for all the blessings from the Almighty.