Day 7: Buckingham Palace and Oxford Street

We went to London today. Our initial intention of going to the city was to shop. It wasn't in our itinerary, but we ended up visiting Buckingham Palace instead. There were throngs of tourists there, maybe sebab weekend. We walked passed by St James Park, had egg sandwich that we packed earlier and headed on foot to Oxford Street instead of hopping on the shuttle bus. That was our biggest mistake as by the time we reach the so called shopping paradise, we were already exhausted and again hungry.

Oxford street really is a shopping paradise especially for those with money unlike moi. This long stretch of road was very crowded despite summer sale has come to an end.  Macam Jalan Tar pun ada cuma high class skit. There are iconic department stores namely Selfridges and M&S as well as high street brands like Zara, DP, Forever 21 and Top Shop just to name a few. 

Frankly speaking, I prefer to shop in Southend than London.  I was too stressed up when I have SO many choices of very nice, hijabi friendly expensive clothes sprawling in front of me and my purse is half empty. It was not a good feeling at all. 

We were hungry by 2pm, tapi susah nak cari tempat makan. What I noticed is that McDonald's here memang laku habis. Penuh seumpama kedai mamak. There are food hall at Selfridges and M&S store but we would really like to taste their traditional fish and chips instead. Masalahnya it was so difficult to find or we were too tired to look for it. 

We only stumbled upon one halal stall selling this meal. The fish wasn't fresh, tasted bland, and there was no tartare sauce or lemon available. The fish and chips served at Fish & Co in KL are way better than this one. There is another shop selling them as their famous signature dish but the batter was made of beer, so tak boleh la makan kan.

By 5pm, we decided to call it a day. We bought cherries and very sweet flat peaches before we headed home via underground tubes and train to Westcliff. I did not purchase anything for myself though. Sale dah habis kan, so sad. 

Next weekend ada open house at Malaysia Hall London. Teringin nak pergi but I did not bring  any traditional clothes along with me. Sure students2 Malaysia all melaram sakan with their baju raya berlabuci bagai kan. Ala malu la kalau pegi pakai jeans je :( Ada orang Malaysia in London boleh pinjamkan baju kurung tak? Kalau ada baju kebaya lagi best (wink).

Missing hubby and daughter whom at this moment are having fun holiday kat PD. So not fair for leaving me behind :(

Day 6: Staying In

Our initial plan was to go to Oxford Street, London early in the morning. Unfortunately my friend is feeling under the weather. Sorry dear for passing you the bad bugs.. We decided to stay indoor today to let her recuperate. Lagi pun I also need to catch up on my reading, kan datang sini nak study!

Last night we invited the Malay boy over for dinner after his night duty was over. He recommended us to go to Cordoba, Espaniol instead. Seemed like a good idea since my friend is not all hyped up about Paris. We would love to see all the Islamic architectures and different culture. The downside is flight airfares will be a bit more expensive and expenses are estimated around RM1500. I'm apprehensive about how to go about in the city. Car rental mahal, not sure about buses or trains and wishing that every top attractions are within walking distance. We are two manjalitis ladies and not used to backpacking :p

Has anyone here ever visited Cordoba? Do you have any recommendation on places to visit, transportation around the city etc. Your comments are most welcome.

Day 5: Rain Rain Please Go Away

This morning we chanced upon a young Malaysian guy doctor, who recently posted here for housemanship about a month ago. He was really ecstatic when he stumbled upon another fellow country girls. I was inside the admin office at that time. He saw my friend talking to the housekeeper in front of the hostel building. Looking at the face and the way she wore the hijab, he shouted across the street at my friend " Malaysian ke?". My friend was confused as she thought this mamak guy is a British Pakistani/Indian and replied " Ha'ah, kenapa?".

This chap came over and appeared really excited to see us! He is also happened to be Alya's junior kat MRSM, what a small world kan. Hailed from Manchester with many orang sebangsa, he kinda missed speaking in Malay :) We chatted quite a bit, took down his number and planned to meet later for a drink. 

Lepas tu, we went to the Occupational Health office for Mantoux reading. The induration was 9mm, as expected, as I already received BCG immunization before. The CXR report was still pending though. We lepak2 at the local library while waiting for Alya's appointment as hers was scheduled 2 hours later than mine.

I enjoyed a cuppa at the lounge area of the library .
Lepas gian :p
The small Americano = 1.25 pounds

We headed over to High Street just to check out the whole stretch of shops before we visit Oxford street tomorrow. At the end of High Street is the sea but we couldn't go near as it started to drizzle.

Nampak makin 'expand' since Raya.
Trying to shed off few kilos but the weather here is not helping at all.
Selalu rasa lapar :(

FYI, M&S and Clarks here in UK are WAY cheaper than back home, almost RM150 difference even on non sale items. Ishh, tensionnya! Alya's sister just bought a blouse for RM269 and the exact same top costs RM120 here. Sheeesh -____- 

Finally saw the sea

We decided to call it a day. We were famished and eager to go back to cook. It was raining quite heavily, temperature was around 14 degrees and the cold wind sent chill down our spine. Even the orang putehs were clad in wind breakers and jackets. I almost got frostbites; unfortunately my fingers and body masih jakun dengan wheather kat sini. 

Dropped by Sainsbury's to shop for groceries.
The cart contained fruits mainly nectarines, grapes and apples as well as vegetables.
Easily paid 22 pounds here (RM100++). Aiyyo (scratch head).

Day 4: Rindu mereka :(

Day 4: The hostel

Salam and good morning everyone..

 I am currently residing at Southend Accomodation for the price of 15 pounds per day. In total I have to pay 541 pounds for 35 days. Kali lima and that summed up to RM2700.. gasp! Maheyynyaa, I know!

My friend said macam budak Uni.. hehe

It is actually a 6 rooms apartment, 2 rooms are occupied by others who also work at the hospital and another 2 are vacant. Initially I felt that the room is rather small. I was claustrophobic for a minute but after a while I find that it's just nice for a person. Bukan nak melompat berlari bagai kan :p

The room is equipped with a single bed, wardrobe and a desk. Kettle, towel, mug, internet connection (just have to bring LAN) and an alarm clock are also provided. Apa yang penting is that the room has its own attached bathroom, yayy. 

There is also a shared kitchen which is better equipped than my very own back home. Ada washing machine and dryer, fridge and microwave, tempat masak etc. Iron pun ada kat bilik TV and housekeeping once a week. So for the price I pay, I am happy and satisfied with the facilities provided.

Cuma fridge besar 2 pintu kat sini penuh sangat. Ada 2 orang je lagi yang tinggal kat apartment ni tapi MasyaAllah, fridge stocked untuk 3 bulan okay! Takde space untuk kitorang store barang2. Kena selit2 je : (Mode BM takut ada orang sini terbaca. That's why kitorang tak boleh nak beli banyak2, takde space. Takpelah, we'll just have to make do with whatever we have at the moment.

I don't have any plans today. We were too exhausted yesterday after almost 7 hours of walking. Did I tell you that I slept from 8pm and again skipped dinner. I woke up at 4am with a growling tummy and ate the precooked fried rice at 5am! I'm planning to catch up with a bit of reading today and nak jog to Sainsbury's supermarket nearby later in the afternoon. 

Opps, did I tell you that the peaches here taste heavenly especially the flat ones. Subhanallah. I shall pack few to bring home if it is still in season.

Okay, see you later. Have a nice day ahead.

Day 3: Just tired..

Today has been another tiring day. We had an appointment for occupational health assessment at 10.30am. By 9am we have left the building and made our way to the Thamesegate House where the health office is. We reached the place early and decided to drop by the public library which is located nearby.

I love the place and I can see that reading is part of their culture particularly amongst the elder ones. I can see old atuk and neneks walking with canes or even mobilizing using the motorised wheelchair coming in and out of the library with bags filled with books. Me and Alya had a discussion on our strategy to study in preparation for the exam in Feb 2013. I felt choked as there are so many things to cover with so little time. May Allah give us strength and perseverance, Ameen. 

At the library

We then headed to the health office 10 minutes before the appointment time. I've got called in first, the nurse was a very nice lady, injected PPD for Mantoux test since we are from country with TB endemics and took my blood for Measles and Rubella screening. We had to perform a chest x-ray at Southend Hospital but on our way there, we decided to stop by a park to enjoy the cool sunny weather whilst having our packed lunch.  

The whether was on our side today. See, I only donned on a layer of top.

Love the bushy flowery park.

We left the hospital by 2pm. Alya had a migraine while my feet were aching. All we wanted to do was to go back to the hostel and lie down. This time around, equipped with a GPS, we tried on a different (hopefully shorter) route back to Balmoral Road. We got lost along the way, made a wrong turn and by that time, both of us were stressed up and grumpy. Alhamdulillah we found our way back. We decided to do some grocery shopping beforehand as I don't think we will ever get out again today.

We bought another 4 packets of rice, fruits, chicken and few herbs and spices from a Pakistani and an Iraqi shop at London Road, very near to our place of stay. We wanted a tiny packet of salt but they only had a big bottle of it. The Iraqi lady generously gave us her own half used salt and we thanked her for that. May Allah bless her and her family for being so kind. 

Experimenting a new route and passed by these area.
Southend is an old town and these houses are still with chimneys.
I am sure you need a lot of $$ for renovation and restoration.

By the time I reached the hostel to Skype, it was already 11pm in Malaysia and my husband and daughter were already asleep :( I'm really exhausted, have not get over of my common cold and aching for a feet reflexology.

Gosh, I miss home terribly...

Day 3: Makan mis-adventure

I would say that since we ever got here, our eating schedule has been erratic. Breakfast normally consist of sandwiches, no lunch, by 4pm our tummy started to growl and hunger pang set it after a long walk. The food here I would say is reasonably priced but to the fact that everything has to be multiplied by 5, we became cheapskate. 

McDonald's meal roughly priced at 4 pounds while fish and chips costs almost 6 pounds. 2 days ago we had large half priced pizza as lunch cum dinner for 3.5 pounds bought at Ali Baba Turkish shop. I can foresee that we will frequent this joint regularly. Yesterday we ate burgers at a Pakistani shop (I forgot the name) for lunch. So for 2 nights in a row, we only had fruits for dinner. The reason being is that by 8pm, I would still felt jet lagged and would already took my 40 winks.

This morning, Alya knocked on my door and told me that she was really hungry. I brought along a small rice cooker from home, cooked basmati rice, alya opened up a can of sardines and made scrambled egg. For a short while, it felt like home. I guess being Malaysian, anywhere you go, somehow or rather, only rice gives your enough satiety, don't you think so?

We are writing down our menu to plan on our grocery shopping this week. We can't afford to eat outside everyday, better save money for travelling and shopping :p The menu includes fried rice, seafood / chicken tahri, ayam masak halia / kicap and telur dadar. We are not equipped with adequate cooking utensils like chopping knife and board and had to make do with cutting on a tray using butter knife.. so sad..

Anyways, plan for today:
1) Occupational health appointment at 10.30am
2) Grocery shopping at a halal butcher down London Road

Today's packed lunch