Ok, it wasn’t by free will, DH coming with me to watch Edward Cullen on the big screen. I had purchased the tickets 2 months ago, way before he has any chance to formulate a plan to get out of the Eclipse movie date. Since my parents & brother are still around, might as well take the chance for a movie date, before we ran out of the babysitter option card.

Naturally, most of the ppl in the cinema were ladies. Some are on team Jacob, and some on team Edward. The small number of men that were in the cinema, like DH, I suspect were dragged if not bribed by their wives/fiances/girlfriends who are “twihard” (thanks Ann!) to see the earlier shows.  Anyways, it was all in good fun. DH consoled himself that he was free to look at “hot vampire chicks” while I ogled on Edward Cullen. Hehehe

The storyline is no secret, if you read the books you know how it all ends.. but halfway throughout the movie I was quite meluat bored with Bella not being able to decide between Edward and Jacob. I can safely say that this one is the better Twilight Saga movie, with New Moon being the one that I liked least.. but hey, this is my own opinion. I enjoyed the fight scene, and was hoping there was more of it, but then I remembered it is a PG rated movie, so cannot ganas-ganas sgt lah kan.. I could tell only Twihards were eager enough to watch Eclipse this early, and it was confirmed when they cheered and clapped the moment Bella accepts Edward’s down-on-one-knee proposal.. hahaha.. saya tak terlibat ye..

My verdict: A must see if you read all of the books, a no-bother if you think Edward Cullen looks like nyah.

Just a quick post to mark a wonderful day to a very special person in my life, my darling Abah.

Looking good, isn’t he? Muaaahhhs!

Thank you Abah for all your love, support, strength and guidance. I can never put into words to describe how you have inspired me all these years. I just hope I can made you proud someday, and finish what I have started with success… insya Allah.

Happy Fathers’ Day, Abah. I love you, and so grateful that God has blessed me with you.

Hmm.. been a long while since my last update.. bukannya bz, bukannya malas, bukannya takde idea nk blog.. tapi.. my heart is not in it.. for now, at least.

Soon insya Allah, this pain & hardship shall pass… and then we’ll meet again.

p/s: Ir Hani Che Lat.. thanks for your reminder dear. How I wish I can easily call and let you know what goes on in my mind

Mummy loves you very much my little munchkin, you make me want to be a better person. The love and hope I feel whenever you grace me with a smile is simply beyond words. I pray that you will live a successful and beautiful life. Semoga selamat di dunia & akhirat, Amin

We started our trip with a day visit to Keukenhof in Lisse. Vibrant colours, magnificent spread of blooms greeted us in beautiful sunny weather. By the end of the afternoon, we almost lost the sensation in our legs, but extremely happy nonetheless. The long winding path through the gardens and the exhausting walk were entirely worth the effort.

I finally fulfilled my childhood promise to bring my mother to this serene, beautiful place.

We also took full advantage of the beautiful weather on the 2nd day. In our search of Hard Rock Cafe in Amsterdam, we asked a local man for directions and dutifully followed his directions… only to realize after 10 mins of walking, a ’tunnel under the canal’ he meant could well be a ‘bridge over the canal’. Hehe. We later proceed to Amsterdam Central, and DH was extremely estatic to find a local food he was looking for… fries with satay sauce. Yum.

I had to stay in on the day after as I needed to make final changes and submit my ARCOM paper. It was the Queen’s Day (Koninginnedag) and the entire city turned into a massive street party. In the neighbourhood where Fariny & Saiful lives (and also everywhere apparently), the streets were transformed into a huge garage sale, where the locals would set up stalls to sell things that they no longer need. Well, hello! ‘Carboot’ in our street…. we likey!

We braved our odds and decided to drive to Brussels the next day. A little technical glitch causes us 30 mins delay circling the Amsterdam ring road, however, yours truly a.k.a designated navigator sorted it out and we finally arrive in Brussels 2 and a half hours later. We parked the car, and boarded the sightseeing bus to see the city. Before we left, we had a taste of the infamous Belgian chocolate waffles, ooohhh yumness! Teringat time datang dgn Lieyn, Wan & Ogy 5 tahun lepas… still as delicious! Yumnessssss!

It rained the next day, but we just had to keep on with our visit… we went to see the windmills in Zaanse Schans. This has to be my 2nd favourite place here… It is simply breathtaking! We would have stayed longer, but it was friggin’ cold so we had to leave….with beautiful memories in our minds.

We drove to Den Haag and Rotterdam the next day.. it was raining heavily when we got to Madurodam, tapi cantik & kagum punya pasal… redah aje la. It was well worth walking in the wet, cold rain… I just wish we could have spent more time there… Daniel had a blast!

Today is our last day here… we’re just going to take a canal boat in Amsterdam and start packing our bags… will update more when time permits. In the meantime, for a detailed holiday journal, head on to my abah’s blog… as he is the designated trip reporter hehe..

See y’all soon!

We’re in the land of windmills now on a holiday and generously hosted by Fariny & Saiful in Amsterdam. More updates to follow soon… in the meantime, a snapshot from one of my favourite places in the world.

dun really feel like celebrating.. *sigh*

Excuse me for the lack of read-worthy posts lately, for some reasons I don’t really know, I am going through this absolutely-malas-nak-update-blog mood. *Sigh*

Earlier this month, my darling cousin came for a visit after her holiday in Scotland and Ireland. We had a blast, especially Daniel, who wouldn’t stop calling Cik Su during the time she’s here. We sent her off at Stansted Airport (and pick up my parents the same day), and alhamdulillah, we managed to get there and back safely with our ride.. we were quite nervous really, considering it was the first real ‘road trip’ for our car. To Cik Su, thanks for coming and we hope you had a lovely time here… next year datang shopping for you-know-what for yourself yerrr.. Aminnnn!!! hehehee

Daniel & best fren of the week... Cik Su!

rehat2 kat one of the many services on M6

nasib ada bas ni.. boleh la mummy bagi dia makan.. kalau tidak..?

terjakun sekejap bila tgk tempat bayar tol kat hiway M6.. hehe

Daniel @ Stansted Airport.. tunggu atok & maktok Kesian sayang mummy, mata berair2 sakit pun senyum lagi.. muahhs!

Daniel was not feeling well during the trip, we suspected that he has conjunctivitis then but had to wait till the day after we got back to Eccles to see our GP. My little munchkin did not seem to mind, probably due to his excitement seeing his atok and maktok at the airport. He was a little trooper, made no fuss during our long journey home… longer as we made a stop at beautiful Cambridge and also due the traffic on northbound M6 was jammed with Liverpool supporters travelling up north the same day.

yay! Atok and Maktok is here!

us in Cambridge

Although the weather is much better by British standards, my parents are still adjusting to the climate, and coping with bouts of cold, cough and flu. It breaks my heart to see them not well, when they saved up and waited to come all these while.. I really, really hope they get better soon. Daniel is also having his share of being under the weather… I was torn between going to school or working from home this past few days.. but I feel my family should come first. Hopefully they get better soon, nak pegi holiday pun tak best kalau tak sihat kan?

My little sunshine.... demam pun senyum lagi.. Mummy loves you Afwan Daniel!

In the meantime.. I have a paper to finish..nak tulis conclusion je lagi, and I am done. I really, really hope I finish it very, very soon… I might just vomit if I need to look at it any longer. Urgh.

I really should be concentrating on my paper which is due next week… but I just couldn’t help myself.

The sun was shining brilliantly…  and I knew I just had to be outside…

I spent almost the entire week after the IA episode ‘pretending’ to be a stay-at-home-mom, and I only spent a couple of days in school, only because there were 2 sessions that I really should attend, for the sake of my PhD. I kept myself occupied with the kitchen, catching up on my laundry duties, doing a bit of gardening.

Most importantly, I would have to say, is to be with my little munchkin who is now 22 months old. I am enjoying every single minute. Absolute bliss

Today DH left home for work earlier than usual, as he had to help our friend clear up his old place. I was left alone with Daniel since early afternoon, so we did lots of things together today. I let him free in the garden, while I was checking on my petunia seedlings, and he found some muddy puddles to jump in.

By the time I was done with my plants, he was half covered in mud. So I took the most convenient solution to keep any toddler happy while achieving any mother’s primary objective.

I put him in a warm bubble bath to get him all clean and smelling of soap, while I watch by. He was estatic, and only agreed to come out after he started shivering. Haha.

Mission accomplished!