Weekends Stories

A fortnight ago, we went to Stafford to do some final cleaning at our house in Stafford before sending the keys back to the letting agent. On the way to Stafford, we dropped by at Sekolah Malaysia Manchester to buy nasi kerabu, made by my blogger-friend, Farah. The Sekolah Malaysia held every Saturday and they followed the UK school term as well (correct me if I'm wrong). So, what I heard every Saturday there will be many (read:malaysian) food sold in the canteen. I've never been here before, so I told Zaid let's go and buy some food since we really need energy to clean the house on that day. So I asked Farah to keep 2 packs of her delicious nasi kerabu for me and Zaid. 

When we got there, we managed to see a group of students from Libya. Then I've been told that there were two schools operated every Saturday, Sekolah Malaysia and Libya School (kanak-kanak Libya). They share the same building. The Malaysian kids already had their break time so that means during my visit it was the break time for the Libya kids. 

~The canteen..

Fahim, do you want to school here?

~Yours truly with taukey nasi kerabu cawangan Manchester. :p

We're done around 6pm and after performed Maghrib prayer, we went to Dalina's house to return her vacuum cleaner as we had borrowed it earlier. After short lepak-lepak and waved a final goodbye, we went off back to Bradford. Once again we stopped at Manchester to buy late dinner and of course..Cendol Faluda! But this time we didn't buy food at Al-Jazeera, because Dalina was recommending something more delicious (according to her). It was Afghan. We ordered Qabily Pilau rice and Chicken. Erm....it was nice. The taste was striving to be on par to our fav Al-Jazeera, but I think Al-Jazeera has given a little 'hit' on its menu. Well, everyone has different taste,ey? We're glad we have tried Afghan anyway. Thank you for reckon babe! 

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Last weekend, the Malaysian Community in Bradford (Rumpun) has invited us to join their Raya Haji open house in Bro. Nazrul & Kak Salmi's house. This was my second meeting with my Malay friends in Bradford after Kak Nur's Raya Haji open house. The 'makan-makan' theme was 'Masakan Kampung'. Whoaa..bestnye ada tema2 gitu! There were daging masak singgang (lauk klate by Kak Nur), ayam percik klate (by Dell), and many more mouth-watering food. I brought two simple dishes, sayur campur goreng dengan cendawan and sambal gesek. Hope they like it. On that day as well, I've been introduced to 'adik-adik' undergrads. Again, I forgot to snap any photos. However, seeing the 'adik-adik' undergrads holding their dslr buatku rindu nak ambik gamba balik. I should bring my camera next time. Especially when I saw Fahim cooperatively giving nice shots and throwing his cheeky smiles when he's been asked to give a pose by the 'adik-adik' undergrads. Haih..kena ingat ni lain kali. Luckily I managed to snap two photos of us after the party. 

~in front of the host's house

Anyway, that's it my weekends stories. I'm looking forward to seeing someone this weekend. Ehem-ehem..sapalah yang sudi singgah ke teratak buruk kami ni. Tunggu!!! Ok, before I go I would like to say thank you to my bestie, Dalina. She's really good in sending surprises to my door i tell you. :)

~raarr! haha..it's not like what you think..but yes,the box is damn sexy. :p

Alhamdulillah..The Complete Series of Permanent Residence.

Alhamdulillah...

Syukur sangat ke hadrat Illahi yang memudahkan segala urusan kami di sini. Terima kasih buat pembaca blog ni yang mendoakan urusan kami berjalan dengan lancar dalam entry lepas. Maka inilah jalan cerita yang lengkap tentang kami yang sudah berstatus Permanent Residence (PR)...

Al-Kisah....

Bermula awal tahun ni..incek zaid dapat berita yang department dia akan di'transfer' ke Regensburg, Germany dan sebahagian lagi ke Leeds, UK. Most of his projects and specialization will be based in Germany, while in Leeds he will be involved in less-familiar projects. Company bagi pilihan sama ada nak ke Germany, Leeds atau boleh take redundant money. So masa mula-mula dapat news tu, kitorang taktau nak pergi mana..

Jerman? Leeds? Malaysia?

Too many things to think...serabut sangat. Mula-mula kitorang decide nak ke Germany since 'orang kat sana' sanggup fulfill all our requirements and demands, asalkan zaid pegi sana to handle the new department. Aku jugak banyak mintak pandangan dan informasi dari blogger Kak Nana yang menetap di Germany. Thank you kak nana susah2 bagi information kat saya :) Bila zaid dah gi visit Regensburg kitorang pikir balik rasa macam hati ni sayang kot nak tinggalkan UK. Sebab yang paling utama terasa rugi tahun ni dah boleh apply PR. 

Dalam masa yang sama, zaid ada attend interviews dengan company2 Malaysia yang datang di UKEC (setiap tahun banyak company dari Malaysia datang untuk memberi peluang pekerjaan pada UK fresh graduates dan sponsorship to Master & PHD students). Cuma special case to hubby dia bukan fresh grads..haha :p So takde peluang untuk hubby 'selling himself and skills' sebab yang datang mostly untuk mencari graduan for their Graduate Trainee Program. Maka hasrat untuk pulang ke Tanah Tumpah Darahku tidak kesampaian. Kuikui..!

Eventually, we decided to move to Leeds. Satu hari tu hubby took a day off and we went to Leeds to 'feel' and see ourselves how would it be to live in a big city like Leeds. Sebab sebelum ni Stafford mcm small town je kan. Well, I still remember my first impression of Leeds. I said to Zaid, "haa..i think i can picture myself living here". Ok statement jujur ketika kereta nak parking di shopping mall..Erkkk...!  -_-'  Soon later kitorang pun buat keputusan untuk berhijrah ke Leeds. 

Status PR

Untuk mendapat status Permanent Residence, seseorang itu (main applicant) haruslah cukup 5 tahun bekerja dan menetap di UK. Untuk dependent macam aku at least 3 tahun stay di UK. Syarat kedua harus lulus Life In The UK Test dan perlu above Level 3 ESOL (English for Speaker For Other Languages). Nasib baik kitorang dah ambik test ni aritu sebab start October test tu akan ada penambahan pada format soalan iaitu Listening & Speaking. Fuh..selamat! Dan....... fees untuk apply PR ni pun dah naik £1k compare to time kawan kitorang Dalina,Jerul & baby Nadine apply masa Januari lepas. T_T..... redho jelah bayo £3725 untuk ketiga-tiga kami. sobs..sobs..hujung tahun tade acara sopink boxing day. Selain itu, adalah benda-benda lain yang menyumbang pada ke'stress'an kami seperti acara mengisi borang bapak tebal, mengumpul surat-menyurat rasmi ke home address that could cover the whole period of 2 years, nak cari bil/bank statement yang ada nama sama..hoii jahh..boleh muntah kalau ingat balik. Sabo jelah.

Sebab tulah dari awal tahun kalau ada yang bertanya pada kitorang apa plan, kitorang tak boleh nak bagi jawapan. Ada yang tanya bila nak balik Malaysia pun susah nak jawab. Maka maaflah ye pada semua kalau jawapan tidak memuaskan. Sebab hal-hal penting camni selagi belum settle selagi tulah berserabut...Ada jugak kawan yang datang UK September ni, memang ralat sangat tak dapat jumpa dia..sorry beb..but I believe you had good times in London & Paris. ;)

Hari kejadian: Jumaat 20/9/2013
Appointment kami pukul 1 tghari di UKBA cawangan Liverpool. Rutin biasa kalau nak berjalan jauh aku akan siapkan bekal lunch. Pagi tu aku masak nasi goreng ikan bilis+udang kering ketuk beserta kacang peas. Lauk sambal tumis ikan bilis yang dimasak semalam aku panaskan. Telur rebus dan chicken nugget kegemaran Fahim. Sebelum gerak breakfast nasi goreng dulu. Tepat jam 10 pagi kami bergerak sambil mulut tak berhenti zikir 'yassir wala' tua'ssir.

Semua berjalan lancar, dari proses submit form, bayar fees, interview sikit, biometric dan ambik gambar, sampailah ke proses menunggu berjam-jam. In between sempat pegi lunch kat dalam kereta je. Dan kat situ ada multi-prayer room (asing untuk Lelaki & Perempuan) yang lengkap dengan tempat wudhu'. Dari pukul 12.30 sampai pukul 4.30 baru settle! How was my little Zidane? Was he behaving well?

Ok, mula-mula dia diam je dalam stroller. Dah lepas 40 minit, baru dia nak turun dari stroller. Lepas tu pegi lunch dan sepatutnya masa tu dah nap time dia. Tapi makin lama makin cergas pulak budak ni. Bawak dia main-main kat tempat lain yang tak ramai orang, dia nak poo poo plak. Lepas salin dia, dia makin aktif pulak tawaf satu area tu. Harghhh! Memang sangat-sangat penat hari tu. Tetiba biometric incek husband failed, nak kena buat lagi skali. Last-last kitorang jadi orang terakhir yang settle hari tu. Takpelah..ujian kecil je. Asalkan dah selesai pun dah bersyukur dah.

~sudah mampu menarik nafas lega..alhamdulillah...

Kitorang singgah masjid Liverpool..ehem incek Mijoe dan puan Malin,ingatkah lagi kat masjid Liverpool? Lepas tu ke Anfield pulak..kali ni dapat jugak menjejakkan kaki ke Liverpool Stadium setelah sekian lama mengidam. Hahaha! Zaid paksa rela je amik gamba iols. Maklumla dia die Man U die-hard-fan. Wakaka!

Dia Lebih Penat Dari Kita..

Esoknya, budak ni bangun paling lambat. 10.30 pagi baru bangun. Masamm...

~letih sangat sampai terbaring-baring kat lantai..

Tengahari tu daddy nak cari 3 in 1 waterproof jacket, maklumla orang tu nak kena commute hari-hari dengan train, sekarang pulak musim hujan je..So off to Cheshire Oaks we go....

~tak padan dengan kecik..nak jugak join memanjat.

3 Down..What Else To Do?

Exam dah settled,PR dah settled, and now..we are counting the days to move to......

BRADFORD,WEST YORKSHIRE!

Yeay!

Kitorang tak jadi duduk kat Leeds, tapi hubby decided to commute to work by train/by car from Bradford, which takes about 20 mins.

Bab rumah..tungguuu..!!!

2 Down..1 More To Go.

Assalamualaikum peeps..Phew! Hope I didn't leave cobwebs here..*grin*

Ok, short announcement. Alhamdulillah we (Zaid & I) have passed our PR exam (read:Permanent Residence). The exam that has taken most of our Syawal 'excitement' and half of our inner peace. 

Another half is still remain there -_-' ..or at least untill our PR application is successful. Oh my gucci,nervous mak!

Second good news, we have found our new home in Yorkshire land (again,praise to Allah). After couple of months searching, couple of times to-and-fro Stafford-Leeds (but had a pit stop at Al-Jazeera & Moonlight to buy nasik arab & cendol hehheh!) , our house-hunting expedition came to end. Mana tak macam expedition..naik turun hills area Huddersfield, masuk keluar ceruk village and farm dan macam zaman Braveheart dah panoramanya. I should have taken some photos but it was raining heavily, so I just captured with my eyes. 

So, whereabouts? Ahaa...!!! Surprise..surprise! Tunggu jelah next entry. Buat masa sekarang, tolong doakan our PR application and its process will be going smoothly as we will do it on this 20th September in the Home Office. *dupdapdupdap*

Oklah..kita bagi hint skit..ni kitorang jalan-jalan kat city dia. Park dia besar dan santek...

~tgk Fahim dah tawaf dulu.

~yang penting, masjidnya dekat sangat. Massive halal food are available!

Busy..busy..busy..

Form-filling + Stuff-sorting = rumah tunggang langganging (rhyme asal boleh).

Till we meet again..adiosa!

the result.. WW8

tahniah kepada anda yang terer meneka :p

My Pregnancy Journal

Hari Rabu lepas, ada posmen hantar barang ni. Khas untuk saya. Jom tengok..

Thank you aunty Dalina & Uncle Jerul for the sweet gift. Diorang bagi hadiah pregnancy journal untuk I. Terharu sungguh menerima hadiah di muka pintu. :p

Cantik sangat journal ni, plus sangat informative dan kreatif. Ada banyak nak kena tulis & rekodkan. Dari senarai nama bayi lelaki & perempuan pilihan, list barang-barang baby termasuk ketika winter, info tentang kelas penjagaan bayi & antenatal visits, first trimester sampailah the labour & birth. Pheww... perjalanan yang sangat panjang! Semoga dipermudahkanlah..ameen. :)

Week 6: "By now your growing baby will be about the size of the very end of your fingertip" ;)

'Budgeting For Baby'

Baby stuff

Tak sabar nak lekat scan photo baby kat dalam journal ni. Nanti bila dah besar boleh tunjuk kat dia pengalaman mummy dia mengandungkan dia selama 9 bulan kan.

Bukan tu je, daddy pun sekarang dah jadi chef kat rumah ni. Sian daddy, kena masak, basuh baju, kemas dapur..selalu cakap dengan baby, nanti besar kena dengar cakap daddy tau ;)

Sorrylah I lambat update.. Bukan busy buat preparation raya, tapi dok handle morning sickness tu yang tak berapa nak rajin tu.. huhu.

Lagi 2 hari nak raya kan? Semoga semuanya dapat pulang ke kampung halaman dengan selamat. Selamat makan ketupat, lemang dan rendang. Selamat bagi duit raya (selamat aku lol), dan selamat menyambut aidilfitri. Maaf zahir dan batin dari kami sekeluarga (ceh, skrg dah sebut sekeluarga) :p

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri u olls!

Rezeki Ramadhan: Kami Bakal Mummy & Daddy

3+ is equal to 5 weeks.

Alhamdulillah. syukur. nangis.

Ramadhan 1432 ini tersangatlah special buat kami berdua. Buat pertama kalinya kami bakal bergelar mummy & daddy. Thank you Allah. :)

Reaksi pertama aku? Terkesima. Kaget. Tergamam. (ayat BM habis..)

Reaksi daddy zaid .. Terharu. Nangis. Touching.

But we're both sujud syukur straight away after that, hugs & kisses. Terasa sangat Allah menjawab doa kami. ~mode sangat happy.

Esoknya, gi GP jumpa doktor. Tapi doc suruh hantar sample urine ke GP esok pagi. Aku ingat macam kat Malaysia doc check la-la tu jugak. Adoi..tunggu lagi. Esoknya hantar sample urine, then lusa call ke GP nak tau result. Receptionist GP cakap yes, positive. So that's it! Tiada adegan berjabat tangan dan dialog doktor "tahniah,isteri anda mengandung!" macam dalam drama spektra. -_-

Ingatkan dah boleh jumpa midwife sbb kat sini semua benda A-Z pasal pregnancy nanti midwife yang uruskan termasuklah check blood pressure ke, scan ke (err,betul ke Eta & Ishamizu? sila betulkan jika salah). So doc cakap kena tunggu week 9 - week 12 midwife akan contact kitorang. For the time being, just eat healthily, rest well & read wisely. Doakan saya & kandungan sihat & selamat yek. :)

Babak seterusnya, menalipon ibu bapa di tanahair. Atuk & Opah itu sangat gembira dan teruja. Si Nenek di Keramat juga sama. :)

Kakak ku cikgi Eline yang cemerlang & terbilang itu juga kutalipon. Berkongsi pengalaman mabuk malam (ya, perutku macam berangin menjelang malam). Therefore, evening sickness instead of morning!

Seterusnya chatting dengan kawan-kawan tersayang thru YM. Bila sesuatu berita gembira mahu dikongsi bersama teman tersayang, haruslah guna 'YM conference', kan? First skali aku tak sabar nak bagitau ialah dekat Fatt sebab baru je 2 bulan lepas dia ke Mekah dan mendoakan kami di sana. Alhamdulillah, time kasih beb.

Aku masih blur, sorry guys..tak tau nak tulis apa. First time kot pengalaman ni. Nak karang entry macam ibu mengandung yang expert masih ke laut. Haish..kena baca balik previous entries blogger2 supermomma like Mrs. Aan, Mommaholicsuri, Kak Nadine, Eta, Ishamizu dan lain-lain. Supermomma sekalian kalau ada good advice, info, petua dan apa-apa saja silalah comments ye.

Last but not least, selamat menjalani ibadah puasa dan salam perantauan dari kami berdua.

p/s Salam perantauan terlupa lagi..tiap-tiap tahun nak hantar tapi terlufer.Adeii..

Menu Iftar Di Perantauan 2011

Nasi oren, ayam tomato ros dan salad

Masuk hari ni dah 14 hari kita berpuasa kan? Dah sampai ke separuh bulan Ramadhan. Macam mana pengalaman berpuasa korang tahun ni? Aku baca blog sorang ke sorang ada yang berpuasa pertama kali sebagai isteri, ada yang pertama kali sebagai ibu, ada yang berbuka bersama keluarga tercinta, dan ada yang update menu berbuka. Wah..dasat tau. Hehe.. Apa pun pengalaman masing-masing, kita tetap bersyukur kita masih diberi peluang menikmati Ramadhan tahun ni kan?

Teringat entry Ramadhan pertama aku dulu-dulu. Rajin gak update masa tu. Tiap-tiap minggu nak mencuba resepi baru. Hahaha! Masa tu first time berpuasa as husband & wife kat oversea. Meja makan pun untuk 2 org je. Kekeke... Rajin pulak tu nak buat kuih raya bagai..haish semangat. Tahun lepas langsung takde kuih raya, sebab keje. Tapi tahun ni ingat nak ambik cuti raya pastu nak buat kuih raya.. Dah ada dah biskut raya pilihan tahun ni :)

Tahun ni, menu berbuka kami agak variety dan resepi baru jugak. Minggu ni aku dah masak:

Tomyam putih ala thai ayam & sayur campur (first time buat tomyam putih, selalu oren)

Telur bungkus

Nasi Oren

Ayam Tomato Ros

Lepat pisang (jadi tapi tak macam makcik yang jual kat gerai punya)

Seri muka (santan takde ganti susu cair so hasil tak jadi sangat)

Puding jagung (bolehlah)

Salad

Proses me'lepat' pisang..

Kitorang terjumpa daun pisang masa shopping kat kedai cina kat Stoke. Terus teringat nak buat nasi lemak. Tapi tak terbuat lagi. Mungkin esok.. Camnilah nasib perantau macam kitorang. Teringin nak makan macam-macam tapi takde bazar ramadhan..kenalah buat sendiri. Sedih tak? Sedih kan? Sila bersimpati sekarang. :p

Ramadhan kali ni aku rasa sangat bermakna buat aku dan zaid. Banyak cerita nak dikongsi tapi masa tu terhad, balik keje dah letih, masak lagi. So tunggu aku update next time lah ye. Till now, selamat berbuka puasa korang!

I NEED A BREAK!!!!

Gosshhh!! I'm so knackered. I was sent to other department today where i got the total hectic from.Followed by a 40 mins squash session after work, which was actually 10 mins of serious playing and the rest 30 mins of JUST swinging.. :O But it was ok then, at least i berpeloh kan.. "'_' So ended up my day today with no heavy cooking, just oven grill mackerel,gravy,salad with houmous. Wow, very the healthy.. hahaha... ~padahal dah penat gilos. :p

I need a break. I need a holiday. Yes, I need a time-out.


Ok,sebenarnya summer break is nearly come (my factory will be shut down for 2 weeks) that's why la keep thinking of holiday.

I thought it was just me,tak sangka la pulak encek zaid pun ber'ura-ura mahu coti2 jua.Hahahaha...apelagi bila dua kepala sudah sepakat, jeng jeng jeng..............



BEG TRAVEL BAKAL DIGALAS LAGI! teeheee :)