Food galore!!!

Today I was very excited (Yes! until I wrote a post about it) to receive my Malaysian food stuffs that I shipped 4 months ago while I was in Malaysia during the summer break. At first I thought the package would never be delivered because it had been such a long time. I was told that the longest a package will take to be delivered via ship route is 3 months. Last year I got my package only after 2 months. So, you can imagine how grateful and happy I am when the package (with loads of local food stuffs that you are dying to eat) you longer have no hope that it'd be delivered suddenly appeared in front of your door. *Happy with teary eyes*

Of final 3 weeks semester

Semester has been continued for a week after the Thanksgiving break. Yeah, I know it's shame on me for letting this blog without any updates since then. And, it's about another 3 weeks for the semester to end. Time flies really fast nowadays. Wushhhhhhh.........

3 things will happen  in this 3 weeks that really excites me. The 1st is the "The Fray"s concert in Madison. Can you believe it? It's the THE FRAY people!!!. I don't know whether you share this excitement, but I have been dreaming of listening to their shows live since ages. And now, that dream will come true on December 16th. (Just so you know my final exam begins the next day..haha).

Actually, I knew about their coming to Madison by accident. I was cooking for dinner while listening to a radio and suddenly my ears captured an ad mentioning The Fray's show. My heart was pumping out in excitement. The next thing I know, I turned off the stove, ran towards my laptop, and booked myself a ticket.

The 2nd excited thing is the Final Exam. Well, not really excites me. It's just the feeling of the post-exams that motivates me to go through the exams period and finish it immediately.

The last excited thing is the road trip to West Coast. Only God knows how much I need this trip. So, now you know why this semester's final exam is really exciting: one day before the exam period is The Fray's show, and the next day after the exam period ends is the West Coast's road trip. What a good motivation to ace the exams huh?

At first, I thought of writing my UK and Istanbul-part 3 in this post. But, I guess it will make this entry becomes inappropriately lengthy. So, part 3 will come soon!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone!

I am still here

Just to let you know that I have been super busy as I am in the midst of exam season. Hence the lack of update recently. And owh I have one paper to do tomorrow. Wish me luck and do mention me in your prayers :) Good night.

Of Eid and vanity

There's nothing else you want to do other than listening to your beloved ones' voice during Hari Raya. It's the day where you and your family members are supposed to gather around, feeling the joyous atmosphere while contemplating the deeper meaning of the Eid. Unfortunately, some people like me can only hear those voices over the phone as distance separates us apart. But still, I am grateful to get to talk to my family and receive  immediate response. Thanks to the technology.

Being able to celebrate Raya Puasa in Malaysia a couple months ago certainly compensates my feeling of homesickness at the moment. The delight of all those "rendang", "ketupat", and "kuah kacang" served in the morning of Raya was still kept fresh in mind, resulting me not to crave for them so much.

It's just the moment when all my family members get to gather around that I really miss. And Hari Raya is one of the day when that rare moment happens. For some reasons, when getting together, everyone's getting loose, jokes pop out spontaneously, laughter burst out naturally, and stories are exchanged lively. And certainly it's much merrier during Hari Raya when good food is abundant and everyone is nicely dressed up.

I got to feel that zest atmosphere even though by just listening to the phone. Again thanks to the high speed internet and high-tech mic, at the same time I talked to my Mom, I could listen clearly everything that took place at the "backstage"; my talkative youngest brother whining for God only knows what, with my Dad who is never bored to entertain him, my sister stirring the "kuah kacang", and my borther kept asking for his "sampin". All  those come alive in my mind. I could imagine that if I was there at the scene, I would have been busy taking photos of them as I normally do.

Oh well, I need to get back to reality. Tomorrow morning, with or without them, Raya Haji will still be celebrated.  At least, this year Eid nicely takes place on weekend or else I have to attend lectures and consequently loss the Raya's mood altogether. Fuhhh...

Here's the takbir I want to play tomorrow morning. Luckily, there is a full version available on youtube.

Happy Eid Mubarak 1423H to everyone =)

Of music and studies

I am writing this post at 2.42am in the morning in which I should have slept by now. Not my intention to drag my studies time to this late night (or morning to be exact). I don't know since when every time I stucked in my effort to solve homework problems, my finger was getting itch to browse all the songs in my playlist. And it's certainly not a good thing especially when I got hooked up with the old favorite song I haven't listened to for quite a long time until my homework...ohh well. (At least I got it done even though until this late). Yes, this is the song I was talking about. But I warn you: Don't ever play it while you are in any kinda business, or else you wont  get it done as planned. This song is just so addictive (at least to me)

I guess I need to plug in earphone and bring this song into my slumber. Hope sweet dream will come..who knows =)

Weekend goes as fast as it comes..

How I wish time can freeze so I can keep savoring every crumb of the weekend's languid, idle pace of life. Surely, it is impossible but it seems to make the mode transition is far more impossible. And less than 9 hours, lecture will start as usual, life will be back to "normal".* Sigh..* Or at least I can try to be optimistic hoping this week will be a good one (just to motivate myself)

Hope everyone too will have a good week ahead =)

UK and Istanbul trip - part 2

Salam and hey everyone..

Friday comes again. The day I think everyone who call themselves a college student really like; the day when books and any homework/assignment for a while could be put aside, even though test/quiz will come on the following Monday. Yes, what else to do rather than having party like there's no tomorrow. Plus, with Halloween is just around the corner, tonight's party must be added with some extra kicks.

Me? prefer to stay at home; laying back on my cozy couch, watching my favorite sitcom/movie, making phone call to family who is 14763km away, chatting with friends (and updating this blog of course). Call me loser or whatever, but I am looking forward every week to doing all these things which I consider as my own version of TGIF.

Ok, back to topic. After spending the whole one day in the lovely Cambridge, we headed back to London. We spent two days in this great city. The only drawback here is weather. Unlike the glorious sunny day in Cambridge, London is pretty much gloomy and showered most of the time. And it is unpredictable too. You may hear the weatherman broadcasting it's bright 23 degree sunny in the morning, and all the sudden it was raining in afternoon.

Basically there were 4 major touristy activities we did during our 2 days stays in London. By "major" I mean the one that you need to purchase ticket for entry admission. And they are all interim, being filled up with   free-things-to-do which is the city major attraction sight-seeing. So, the 2 days in my opinion were worth and wisely spent.

The tickets for 4 major attractions were bought in combo online. That way, we saved up quite significant of quid compared to if bought separately. If you want to come to London and visit these 4 attractions, I highly suggest you to do the same thing; buy ticket in combo, in advance, and  online.

My stay in London was also accompanied by another friend who came all the way from Newcastle which is 5 hours journey by bus. It was great to get to meet him up after such a long time.

We began our day visiting the 1st major attraction; London Dungeon. Basically, London Dungeon is like a mix of haunted house with live actors and some rides. But unlike the cheap Halloween haunted house that has no other purposes or educational values but only to  make you scream, London Dungeon interactively creates and tells historical horrific events that took place in London city long time ago such as Great Fire of London, Sweeney Todd, Jack the Ripper, Bloody Marry: Killer Queen and many more. (Google them all if you have no idea what they are)

One thing I love about London Dungeon is the way the actors engaged with the visitors interactively. And they are all experienced actors. Plus, all the rides and the special effect are SUPERB! Have I told you that they even have 5D ride called Vengeance 5D? Or you being treated as criminal who is gonna be hung; you are taken to a ride which elevates you towards the ceiling and models of judges and an executioner reading the charges. A noose drops in front and as the hangman pulls the gallows lever, and you drop down in the dark? It was A-MAYY-ZINGGG!!! 

Unfortunately, it was dark most of the time inside. So, I could not snap many photos. Plus, London Dungeon is a place where you have no time snapping pictures around but to enjoy the experiences offered. Am I right?

In Subway station waiting for the tubes

The main entrance: "Enter at Your Own Peril"

Did I tell you how dark it is? 

This photo was taken by the studio camera.
That tells you in case you're wondering why the image is sharp

Continued...

p/s I just have no idea for an appropriate closing =)

UK and Istanbul trip - part 1

Salam and hey everyone,

I am currently in the midst of exams season. So most of my time has been spent on my study desk, even having my lunch and dinner over my books and study notes. So, nothing exciting happened lately to be shared in this blog. 

I even missed the Haunted House held in Memorial Union tonight. If not because of the quiz tomorrow, I would definitely have let my adrenaline rushed to the max by crawling in the dark labyrinth, being snarled by all the hidden "ghosts" instead of sitting in front of my laptop and squeezing every inch of my nerve cells. (actuarial science is not an easy course I tell you)

So, just to keep the blog updated, I decided to share some pictures of my not-so-recent trip in UK and Istanbul last summer.To sum up, it was a very nice trip..and memorable one too. I think the joyousness of the trip is deeply felt mostly because I did it with my best friends.

We began our trip in Cambridge on the day I arrived London. Fortunately, I did not experience any jet lag. Just to fuel up energy, we decided to head for lunch in Malaysian Hall cafe. I love all the food there. You can get any Malaysian food you can imagine. How I wish a similar cafe exist in Madison. 

These 2 guys were my tour-guides during my stay in UK. The one on the left is from Leicester
and the other is from Sheffield. Really appreciate their hospitality.

I did not look as I just had a  long flight, didn't I?

On the way to Malaysia Hall, London

Malaysia Hall is a walking distance to Queensway and Bayswater subway station.
Pretty convenient to get around from here.

The 10 pounds lunch (bottom right of the picture)

Only one thing that turned me off - the PRICE!! I had a plate of white rice with one piece of fried chicken, some sambal tumis udang (I counted that were only 4-5 shrimps) and some vege. It costs me 10 pounds!! My friends said the high price was because of the shrimp. Basically, he said seafood in London cost you more than chicken and meat. Limited supply I guess.

Then, we headed to Cambridge by train. It took us about 2 hours to reach the city.

A breath-taking scenery along the journey

Cambridge is a university town and administrative center of county Cambridgeshire. Just like Madison, the population was mostly made up of students who attend the University of Cambridge. 

In front of Cambridge train station

We took a hop-on-hop-off bus to tour the town center which covers most of the campus area. The tour also provided you with head-phone which you can plug in and listen to city's tour-guide. But, because, the upper deck of the bus was not filled up with anyone but us, we thought it was a chance of a life time to do cam-whoring on a open roof-less, moving bus. With the air rushing against our faces and hair, we did all the posts we could imagine. So yes, we kept our head-phone aside. What an "eduactional" trip eh.

Spot the cows

Few minutes later few folks hopped on. But their presence did not stop us from continuing our cam-whoring activities at the back. Plus, they didn't seem to bother anyway.

You can tell how "excited" we were

Cool moment (thanks to the photographer aka yours-truly)

Because it was an open upper deck, one of my friend was hit by the twig while cam-whoring. It was so hilarious. If only I was at the right time to snap the picture of him being hit by the twig. Haha

Then, we got off the bus and did punting. I love this punting activity so much. Not only, you can enjoy the beautiful and picturesque setting of the campus from the river, you can also listen to the punter telling you about the history and interesting trivia of this great university. I guess that was a great make-up for the educational part of the tour that we missed after having so much fun on the bus. Hehe

This is the public toilet where I lost my shades..pfttt

We were told that these college students had just finished exams and so they
jumped into the lake to release tension. Give me idea to do the same thing
here in Lake Mendota  =)

My friend here only did the post..not actual punting.
It looks easy but you know once you tried doing it.

Yes..actually all of us tried doing the punting.
But all FAILED!

On the way back, we did little walk around the town. But, it was already late afternoon, so we didn't have much time to explore the whole town

It is beautiful right? Cambridge is very nice little town. You can spend one whole day here and get to explore pretty much all the must-visit attractions. We wished that we could have got there a bit earlier so we would have all the time needed for a complete sight-seeing.

And believe me, all the photos above do not do justice to its reality. I wished I already owned a DSLR at that time. At least, the photos quality would be better and render the reality much closer. I think that's all for now. Part 2 will be up anytime soon. Ok, bye =)