Calling all Friends

Calling all fellow friends to do your bit in helping out those in the need.

I read this appeal from Kak Teh's blog (http://kakteh.blogspot.com) this very moment. We cannot just sit here and do nothing. Do something, play your role, even the smallest part.

"Mercy Malaysia has, on 30th December 2008, formed an Emergency Response Assessment Team to face the humanitarian crisis in Gaza strip. The team has been promptly dispatched to Egypt led by President, Datuk Dr. Jemilah Mahmood and Exco Member Norazam Ab. Samah".

Mercy Malaysia appeals to generous Malaysians to send it cash donations. Contributions will support Mercy Malaysia to procure emergency surgical kits, medicines and hospital equipments to help the hospitals in Gaza.

• Cheque is to be made payable to “MERCY MALAYSIA” and addressed to Mercy Malaysia, Level 2, Podium Block, City Point, Kompleks Dayabumi, Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin, 50050 Kuala Lumpur.
• Cash donations can be made via on-line transmission or deposit at CIMB Bank Account No: 1424-000-6561053.
• Donation form can be downloaded from here.
• Further enquiries are to be directed to +603-22733999 or info@mercy.org.my

Please convey this message to people you know.

Freezzzing

It was bitterly cold these days. The temperature was almost -17C in some places (the worst was -27C many many years ago). I didn't realize how bad it was until I saw the news. Imagine the fountain at Trafalgar Square stopped functioning because the water was frozen, ducks and swans missed their happy times in the water 'coz it all turned to ice (kesian itik takde tempat nak berenang-takde arah tujuan dah) and it was reported that AA and RAC received almost 40,000 calls reporting motor accidents, minor and major everyday. Furthermore, kerajaan siap tawarkan bayaran insentif utk org2 tua dan org miskin bagi meringankan beban bil pemanas.

There are many non-profit organisations offering free hot food/sdrinks for the elderly and homeless people in London. I cannot imagine how terrible they must have felt, to put up a brave face and braven the cold to get somewhere warm and cosy. And I just sit there on my sofa with a plate of hot curry and watched the telly 24/7 while others are struggling to survive. I am so lucky since the gas and electricity bills are included in my house rent. And God...the bill is really expensive. No wonder many of us choose to cut on gas bill and bear with the deathly temperature. They cannot even cook hot food/drink since this requires gas as well. Alhamdulillah aku tak terjejas kat sini. Sentiasa panas dan sentiasa ada makanan. Bila lihat kesusahan org lain baru sedar nikmat yang selama ini kita ambil ringan. I just cannot imagine life without heater during winter (seperti yg berlaku sekarang di Sarajevo and many countries in central Europe). Dreadful, I think.

Another thing that thug my heart is the tragic situation in Gaza. It was so heartbreaking seeing little childrens, fathers and mothers, silently crying or screaming their heart out as the life of their loved ones were snapped before their very eyes. I feel useless not be able to do anything but be witness to their agony. The best thing I could do is to pray for their safety and security. Marilah kita sama2 berdoa untuk mereka. No matter who they are, they are our brothers and sisters. Let us hope for peace all over the world.

End of 2008....Welcome 2009!!

Sorry for the long silence.... I was so attached to something else, so not be able to update this blog regularly. Sufi, I'll do the tag later, ok.

Today is the first Sunday of 2009 and this marked the end of one long holiday for Christmas and New Year. I'll get to work tomorrow and Alia will be in school again. And the routine goes on and on and on...oh, what a routine. But the new year is here! I really hope that this new year will bring a new light, turn a new leaf and me finally be able to look back at this time next year with a smile on my face.

The kick-start of 2009 begins with a trip to Tefal warehouse with Sufi and Maswa. I bought a new Tefal 6 litre pressure cooker there (Clipso Vitaly model) and George Foreman's health grill the day before. Both items were a real bargain. 50% of RRP for the grill and only 21 pounds for the pressure cooker. It is still selling at 59-90 pounds in shops!! Great! This is what I called big girl's toys....I'm so pleased with the purchase. What a way to start a new year!

Health grill....dah lama teringin nak beli George Foreman punya tapi tak mampu, bila turun separuh harga, apalagi..sambar le!

Sooo convenient and my curry tastes better, too! All the vitamins intact kot.

So long as the year 2008 are concerned, I guessed it was a good year all around. We celebrate the year-end by winding up in Swindon Shopping Outlet. On the same day, we joined the crowd at Debenhams, Reading to grabbed many items on sale during Boxing Day crazy sale. Then we headed off to Swindon. Had fish n chips for brunch and then joined Sufi n family for a guilt-free-spend-all-your-money mania. After spending the whole day wandering around the large shopping outlet, we called it a day and headed off to Slough for a good buffet dinner. This place called Shahnaz Restaurant is only 30 minutes from my house and boy, I never knew it even exist! This is the place where I bought my fortnightly groceries. But I didn't know it has such a nice, decent halal restaurant. It offers a small selections of buffet dishes at affordable price. They have 4-5 chicken dishes such as chicken tikka, chicken kurma, jalfrezi etc, several choice of beef and mutton and the starters are fish pakoras and finger food. The deserts inclusive of a selection of vanilla, dates or chocolate ice-cream and sweet rice pudding amongst many others. What a shame I did not managed to snapped a picture for you to see. Thanks to Sufi's friend, Maswan for his generosity....semoga murah rezeki ko ye....nanti kami blanja ko pulak.

Alia suka sangat present banyak2 ni. Posing depan Whittard of Chelsea. Tehnya memang sedap...

Brunch at services, on the way to Swindon

At the Oracle, Reading

Good news for McD lovers, we have Halal McD in London! Yeayyy.....
But the not-so-good news is only the chicken choices are halal (chicken burgers and all) but not the beef. This is the first halal McD in UK and if the feedback is good, they plan to have more halal McDs in the future. They might offer fully halal meals as well! So if you really love Big Mac as I do (oh, my hubby lovvvvess it so much), so do send a positive feedback to McD and they will consider the option to have fully halal meals. Silap2 haribulan, Prosperity burger pun ada. Hahah hah...suka la Ida tu. The place is in Southall, Britain's little india. Majority of their residents are Muslims so kedai halal sangat banyak and people telling me that Southall have the best beriani ever. Kedai mana tak sure lak. So, here's the pics for you to enjoy.

Mama makan Mayo Chicken, Alia makan fries and Mc Flurry je...

Alia dan Cik Ida

A few days back, I went to Egham to say my final goodbye to Kak Mas and family. She left UK for Malaysia, for good. Terima kasih Kak Mas atas segala pertolongan selama ini. It was really nice to get to know someone as nice as you. Rumah K Mas sangat cantik, with large patio door, garden and all. Nanti aku kaya aku nak buat rumah yang ada conservatory, nice garden and most importantly bath tub supaya aku tak payah sental bathroom tiap2 minggu. Hahaha...berangan le.

K Mas and anak-anak

Alia tak sabar2 nak bukak hadiah yang kak Syeeda bagi

Jeng jeng.. ni la hadiahnya. Chocolates from Crabtree & Evelyn. Terima kasih K Mas

On Christmas Day, we (aku and Ida) get bored so we went to Windsor, snapped a few pictures and lazying around. You cannot claim you've been to Windsor if you did not go to Windsor Castle, so off we went then. Before that, we went to Eton College. The place for famous peoples such as the descendants of England Royalties, 18 former British Prime Ministers, Andrew Lloyd Webber (maestro in theathre and music), JK Rowling (Harry Potter), Vivienne Westwood (famous fashion designer tu ke?), Boris Johnson (current Mayor of London ), PM Thai sekarang, apa namanya tah and not forgotten the one and only Mr Rowan Atkinson, our beloved Mr Bean! However great this place are, it was closed that day....we half expected that but still have some hope that it will open but I guessed we were wrong all along. We were not the only tourists there, there are many others as well. Great minds think alike, eh?

Well, yeah...that sort of conclude on how I spent the long public holiday last year. May 2009 brings lots meaningful memories to all of us. Selamat tahun baru semua terutamanya buat keluarga dan rakan-rakan di Malaysia....ada rezeki kita jumpa!! Doakan kejayaanku di sini....