Winter hols with Family Part 2: Special Turkey

this year, my husband and I have decided to have turkey on the Xmas day.. of course, we were having the halal one. having families and friends from Malaysia coming over for a holiday make us so excited to prepare this meal, plus we never cooked turkey before, so this our only chance to cook turkey and have enough number of people to clear the plate..hehe

the 5.3 kg star of the day with the head chef..

for the recipe, i've used Gordon Ramsay's as it is easy to prepare and very straight-forward. no need to sunk the bird in a mixture of spices, syrup and brine for a couple of days before you can actually cook it like what they used to do in a classic turkey recipe

plus, it is so easy even an amateur like me can do it.. apatah lagi u ols yang terer masak tu kan?

rubbing the turkey

it's easy to find turkey roasting plate over here no matter how big your bird is which makes my life so much easier!

Mr. GR used bacon for his turkey recipe, i've had salami on mine instead.. :)  

overall, it took nearly 4hrs to have perfectly cooked turkey. perfect for dinner!

our guests, Abg Shamsul and family

later at the day....

looks yummy to you? 

Winter hols with Family Part 1: Winter Wonderland

me elder sisters and nephew came over for a holiday and they've stayed for 2 weeks
we did so many outings + shopping + makan-makan and therefore all the stories will be partially written in different entries

as they are arriving few days ahead of Christmas, i've made a plan to go to Winter Wonderland, one of the popular christmas destinations to visit in London. I also bought tickets for Zippos Christmas Circus in-advance as the circus is really popular in Winter Wonderland and sold out fast in previous years. It turns out that my decision was right and everyone, especially my nephew really enjoy the circus.  


Based in Hyde Park, there are lots of entertainment in Winter Wonderland such as Ice Age 4 ice rink, Zippos Christmas Circus, giant wheel, selection of rides and games and also christmas markets that offer selection of hot & cold beverages, gifts, toys, winter wear, christmas decorations and many more.
Just see the upcoming photos below if you don't believe me ;p

Winter Wonderland only operates less than 2 months in a year (yes, only in winter season) and for this year, this event has began on the 23rd November and will ends on the 6th January 2013. So, anyone who hasn't been to WW, you have 3 days left to enjoy this winter festival. It's free to enter but prepare yourself a jolly good amount of money for tokens and tickets if you want to enjoy those rides and games. not to forget, the food too! :)

enjoy the photos!

December has come to an end~

Assalamualaikum and hi all!
my husband and i just got back from Malaysia last Sunday
a bit homesick when thinking about the families we left back in Malaysia.. being apart from them is the challenge that we have to face through for the sake of my study
that's alright.. insyaAllah another 1 year to go and i'll be back permanently :)
we are still adjusting our sleeping time here..still terikut2 waktu tidur kat Malaysia, pukul 4 petang dah mengantuk dah.. bangun pagi pulak around 4am in the morning...


it is colder here, but the snow hasn't arrived yet
kalau ikutkan last year, this time has already snowing
there were rumours that this year's Christmas will be White Christmas - where snow start to fall on the Christmas day itself, so we shall wait and see


on Monday, hubby and i went for groceries shopping at Tesco Egham
it was really cold and i told my hubby that my black coat isn't warm enough for me anymore
so, he said he'll buy a new winter jacket for me... 
later at the day, i got this
:))

Per Una Faux Fur Detachable Hood Longline Jacket
from Marks & Spencer

Christmas is coming in a few days time
writing mood is currently really really low..hoho
will do at least a few pages before off to midlands for Boxing Day shopping next Monday.. ;p

November update

Salam all

tatau la ada lagi ke visitor yang baca blog ni, sebab dah lama sangat diabaikan..huhu

it's alright, at least i know my family member esp my sista rajin masuk blog ni.. yang penting diorang tahu apa yang anakanda/adinda/kekanda diorang buat kat sini.. :)

at the moment:

i. study

sedang berhempas pulas siapkan part terakhir chapter 2 writing sebelum balik ke tanah air bercuti. oops! ya, saya nak balik kampung. tak lama, kejap je. jadi bagi mengelakkan panic attack sebab keje tak siap, haruslah siapkan ASAP!

akan pulang semula ke sini sebelum krismas, sebab awal tahun depan saya ada banyak research training yang perlu di attend dan juga manuscript yang nak dihantar ke journal.

ii. life

november ni selalu mudah sangat kene penyakit. time nila nak demam, flu, cough sume datang. nasib nasib. tapi compare dengan tahun2 lepas, tahun ni dah takde rasa mellow2 dah, takde seasonal affective disorder atau winter blues dah.. sekarang rasa masa tu macam berlalu cepat sangat.. plus rasa macam banyak lagi keje nak buat selain berblues itu.. :) 

disebabkan kekadang stress bila writing, hubby advice saya supaya pergi exercise bagi release tension sikit, so pergila join aerobic dan zumba di hari minggu. memandangkan jarak leisure center dengan rumah cuma 5 minutes drive, so daku sangatlah gumbira sebab dapat lari kejap dari rumah dan mengeluarkan peluh yang sangatlah susah nak keluar time sejuk2 ni

oh, christmas's around the corner! time ni paling suke sebab sales will be everywhere and up to 80%!..hoho! plus suka sangat dengan diorang punye street and shop decorations. time nila best kalau nak keluar shopping/window shopping malam2.. ;)  oh, i've better start planning what to buy this Christmas! 

these are some of the Christmas catalogues from several stores that we frequently visit to.. tak masuk katalog Argos, Tesco, Sainsbury , Harrods lagi..huhu.. nampak je banyak catalogue, beli nye tatau lagi. ;p...p/s: they are all for grabs when you visit their store, takyah bayar pun.. 

that's all for now.. baibai.

untuk tatapan keluarga terutamanya bagi menghilangkan rasa rindu..huhu

bawah adalah gambar terbaru di'captured' sempena Eid-Adha.. 

Ya, saya comel :p

balik kampung o o o balik kampung!!

yeah!

nothin' on earth could describe how excited we are to take a plane tomorrow morning to go back home

seawal pagi ni qila dah buat online check-in and we already got our e-boarding passes in hand

moga perjalanan kami ini dipermudahkan tanpa sebarang masalah..Amin

:)

pagi ni dapat Christmas pressie dari Evan, jiran sebelah umah

we decided not to open it until we reached home sweet home

pressie dari Marie, jiran sebelah lagi pun tak buka lagi..but we know that she gave us chocolate..hee

we never thought that we are gonna get such priviledges like other ppl who celebrate Xmas

kalau tau diorang akan bg pressies, awal2 lagi kitorang siapkan pressies for exchange

takpe, nanti balik msia kitorang beli spesel punye gift untuk diorang

fair kan?

Happy Christmas for friends and readers whose celebrating!

kyoo wa..

pukul 3 sudah terpacak di ice rink RHUL untuk ice skating session
ku sangkakan ice rink yang betul2 ice, rupanya synthetic floor aje... frust betul! jadi bile nak skate, asyik tersekat2 sebab lantainya yang tak licin.. lain tahun tamau main kat sini dah
yang tak bestnya tak boleh nak cancel sebab dah booking last month lagi dan payment pun dah transferred, jadi harung jela..

budak gian nak main.. ;p

sempat juga membeli-belah sedikit sebanyak untuk ahli keluarga yang dah pesan barang untuk dibawa balik ke Malaysia
kalau tengok kat shopping complex, memang ramai orang time ni.. plus the sales are everywhere + most outlets are extending their opening hours.. maka berbondong2 lah shopping bags masing2.. 

oh papa, u missed the peak of the christmas tree!

our first snowman @ the current house

comel tak?

:))

finally~~

pokok kunyit kami yang tak tumbuh dari summer sekarang sudah membesar bagai johan!

too bad, kene drop kat umah kawan bila nak balik Msia nanti ;(

be good my plant.. keep growing.. make mama and papa proud!

;)

let's start counting days!

iyer, daku kini meniti hari mengira waktu sahaja untuk pulang ke kampung halaman :)
ingatkan nak announce this Sunday sebab kalau ikutkan timeline it will be exactly a week before my flight back to Malaysia, tapi kesabaran sudahpun menipis
dun care..! i need to let it go! 


since awal minggu ni, semangat giler keluarkan luggage dari almari dan letak dekat lounge :)
over betul.. yela..dah setahun 4 bulan kat sini di rantau orang.. rindu keluarga, rindu makanan, rindu semuala..
hati ni dah separuh kat Msia dah rasanya.. hubby pun macam tu juga


kepada ahli keluarga dan kawan-kawan
doakanlah semoga perjalanan kami dipermudahkan, tidak delay sebab snow ataupun plane problem ya..

story mory the morning glory :)

done with checking the cultures at lab today, we went to Windsor to look for stuff
by the time we came out from a shop, there were ppl crowding at the side of a road facing the entrance of the Windsor Castle
i bet that it will be the ceremony of changing the guard going to happen at any time
in fact there were security ppl and police guarding the area to avoid tourists to rush in the castle or crowding the route where the ceremony will take place
i managed to record the marching band and soldiers in front of the Windsor Castle..yeay!

tonight, i'm planning to write greetings for Christmas cards to be distributed to friends, mr. sv, miss advisor and not to forget to my left, right and upstair's neighbours as well ;)

sukanya dalam hati :)

after working very hard this year, i think i deserve an end-of-the-year reward :)

and the reward is...............................

drum roll please!!!!

been eyeing this for quite some time

at last dapat jugak.. (dengan approval mr. hubby)

tq papa, luv u so much!!

p/s: can start looking for the games after this!! weeeee... :)

~~~~

lupa nak cerita, we had a really good dinner at Kak Maswa's house tonight

she made delicious Tempoyak Ikan Patin & Tilapia masak kicap.. and basically we were the provider of the patin fishes  ( got em' from a friend and asked Kak Maswa's favour to cook for us..hehe, trust me she is so good with cooking any tempoyak meals)

anyway, sorry tak sempat amik gambar the meals, sebab asyik mengunyah..dah habis makan baru nyesal tak amik gamba.. haha

s.n.o.w

last Tuesday remarks Egham as being entirely covered by snow
we were so excited that we took on our jacket, hat, gloves and our cute red boots and not-to-forget our camera early in the morning and went out to the garden to take pictures and had our un-matured snowfight!


yeah, you can see most of the pictures dominated by a lady-human wearing a pink jacket and an orange snowcap on her head.. don't blame her, ok? she's just 25 and only experienced the snow twice in her life! haha

mr. hubby malu-malu plaks! haha.. 

how about this picture for an entree for the snow post afterwards?

yes..it's white everywhere!