My Hari Raya! FINALLY!!

Today, Sunday 27th Sept the Malaysian Student Department had a lil Majlis Hari Raya 4 the Msian students here in UK. 1st time i blajar naik underground tube tukar2 tube line...scary gk la at 1st, takot salah naik plak kan...2 kali gk arr kene tukar...but i always tanye b4 i naik juz 2 make sure..mase tgh tunggu halfway ade la gk ternmpk few guys lalu, nmpk mcm melayu..suddenly nmpk sorg pakai bj melayu,mmg confirm melayu ar ni! Diorg pon pandang2 us since we were in baju kurung n all. i was pretty sure they were also headed the same way. So when we smp je at the last tube stop we saw them getting off, n suddenly diorg tegur. So we talked n stuff..knal2 camtu2 laa..name pon x smpt tanye! hahahah...
When I got there I felt like I was in Msia! wit all the malays,chinese,indians...wearing baju kurung n all. N the best part was....I saw RENDANG! KUAH KACANG!..ape lagi, rembat sudeyhhh! hehehehe...This is the 1st time im celebrating raya, hvnt celebrated at all since ive been here. While I was eating, 3 other girls came n joined us. Knal2 borak2, suddenly mcm dah lame knal plak! theyve all been here 4 a year nw n so we asked them a lot about london. They were so much fun! Kechohh n hyper n with attitude! hahahah...im so glad we met them tho..diorg byk cite mcm2...they said we shud go 2 this place called Bonda coz they're also hvin a Raya thingy goin on. Its a cafe at mara house where they used 2 stay. So they brought us there afterwards, teaching us how 2 ride the bus along the way n we ate some more! hahaha..blk tu mmg dah kenyang gile but puas hati! at least I still got 2 eat Raya food..FINALLY! will definitely be keepin in touch wit those girls!

Riverboat Disco

So, last friday th uni had a freshers fair at th sports hall. Juz went there 2 c wuts up.Lotsa booths where ppl can sign up on - Banks,discount cards,student oyster card,sports team,etc. Almost everytin u need 2 get u started as a freshy(sorta). I went there n got a few brochures, sign up 4 a few stuff n bought a really cool Audrey Hepburn poster! =) thinking of framing it blk msia nnt.

The view fr my window during freshers fair

Later that day I had a Riverboat Disco thingy that I signed up 4 as 1 of the orientation activities. So, at 5.15 the bus will be here 2 come pick us up. It was noted that we had 2 eat b4 goin n had warm clothing on. Was very excited 2 see wut this riverboat disco is all about. We stopped at St Katherines Pier, lovely place btw, n went on a boat. It was kinda under the tower bridge, n the tower bridge looked awesome! everyone were taking pix of it. It kinda looked like it wasnt real, kinda like in fairytales. (dont believe me?see the pix!)

Tower Bridge

Turns out we were goin on a cruise along Thames River while partying/clubbing on it! Sounds cool huh? so lemme break it down - inside downstairs was the clubbing area/dance floor with the dj n bar. 1 floor up was half outdoor where u can see the beautiful scenery while cruising and half indoor with another bar n juz ppl chillin. Theres a stairs goin to the so called 'rooftop' where u can see almost everything (I mean the scenery) of London all along thames river. We went under London Bridge, Tower Bridge, etc. We were on it 4 like 3 hrs i think. There were times when i went down 2 party n dance...n there were times i was juz outside enjoying the COLD n the night scenery of london...n there were times i was inside chillin, juz coz i was freezing outside! It was an awesome night! We found out that it wasnt a public thing, meaning our uni requested 4 it n it was a private event. Private Cruise Party..heeeee~ NICE! But 2 tell u th truth, it made me miss my frens bck home! Coz I usually party with them...HARD! N I wished they were there with me hvin fun 2getha~

Fire Alarm

Its 5.51pm n i juz got bck in my room. Guess wut happened?? The fire alarm went off!!... I was juz on my fb n suddenly i heard a LOUD noise. It took awhile 4 me 2 figure it out tho...I know they said that theyll hv a fire alarm test every friday at 11am but then i thought 2 myself, ITS NOT FRIDAY! is this 4 real?? So i juz took a lil peak outside my room n ask the others bout it n they all said "go down"..Everyone wasnt rushing at all...they were all taking their own sweet time. I was actly figuring out wut 2 take along wit me.hahahha...But i juz took my keys n off i went. Everyone else followed, slowly more n more came down n assembled outside the building. We were all freezing! wit no jackets on, me wit juz my "I LOVE KUALA LUMPUR" huge t-shirt was freezing my ass off! x psl2 promote KL plak kn..they really knw when 2 pick em eyh! felt a bit embarrased..hahaha...but wut the hell~ waited 4 awhile n the fire brigade came!! btul ade fire ke ni??...at the end of the day we found out it was a false alarm. Someone was SMOKING n i guess the smoke detector caught it. bengong tul laaaa....xpsl2 smrg kene....haishh..these ppl yg smoke ni pon,cukup2 la bunuh diri...nk nyusahkn org lain la plakkkk ;p

IzzEY

Course Induction

Today is my course induction. Its where we get info on our classes n our course 4 the whole yr. Sambil2 tgh siap2 nk g, I chatted wit Mel, one of my frens fr MMU. She juz arrived in Portsmth n we were kinda exchanging notes on our arrival here in UK. Panjang sgt cite smp I had 2 rush a bit nk kluar. It was juz in the building in front of my halls. (senangnye la duk in campus) They call it the mansion building. mmg mcm mansion pon! n they juz re-did the interior kot coz few things still dlm plastic n it smelled of fresh paint.

 Mansion Building

Went in the room, a few students there already. But x smp 20 pon. A lect name Jo (perempuan ye) gave us the course booklet n our timetable. GUESS WUT!! my classes are only on Tuesdays n Thursdays! twice a week je n other days all free. For 2 sems n the last sem is our dissertation. So Jo went thru the schedule wit us n explained a lil bit bout our subjects. I hv only 3 subjects n 1 dissertation this whole yr.

Tue - Practices of Promotional Culture (9.30-11.30am)
         Analysing the Media (4.30-6.30pm)
Thurs - Working in Media & Cultural Industries (10am-12pm)

The other fun thing bout it is that we have NO EXAMS!!!! juz courseworks. Cool huh?? ;p So during the holidays I dont hv 2 study! So sape nk dtg better dtg those times k! *wink*

I met some new frens fr Romania n India...hehehhe...then we lpak2 at the grass under the sun..everything is oh so chantekk...u can juz lay on the grass, baring2 layan the sun yg x panas langsung! my campus is like a huge park...lotsa grass n trees everywhere....Sambil tu tunggu til it was 1.30 coz then we hv a short library tour.Then I said gbye 2 my new frens n went bck 2 my room! =)

Library

Frozen Dinner

2nite dinner I decided 2 goreng wutever frozen stuff i bought that day! Stove kt sini electric nye so i pon cam x biasa sgt...ade no 1-6, meaning no 6 plg panas kn? but then rase cam lame plak nk tunggu die panas..rase cam th lower the no lg panas....ker?? hmmm..hv 2 explore lg later. So i goreng fish n chicken nuggets! HALAL ye ppl..i make sure of that! hehehehe...layan gk dohh..mcm kalau buat kt umah...2getha wit mayo n chili sauce...oh,speaking of which, susah gile k nk carik cili sauce here..its  like all they hv is tomato ketchup..dont ppl eat chili sauce here?? i bought "Hot & Sweet Tomato Chilli Sauce"..2 je yg ade...well, later ill try explore making other things plak! haha...

Free Days

Hye ppl! So i heard ramai yg baca my blog!..thats cool~ its as though i tgh cite kt u guys like always bck home. =) Thanx guys!! Ramai yg request i update slalu..so i will try k! As often as i can.

Yesterday was a free day,had nothing on. So i decided 2 do my laundry. hehehe...1st time ni buat laundry sendiri all by myself. Was praying so hard that nothing bad would happen 2 my clothes. Things like my baju shrinking or tukar color! If not mati i kene marah ngn mak! heeee~ ni la msian,semua ade maid kt umah kn...hahahha..."kak suji......basuhkn!" ;p

So masukkan baju dlm machine, masukkan sabun (which i think i accidentally masukkan byk!),masukkan duit (1.80pounds) n push the button "Colors". I hope I did it rite! hahahah...i bought the powder soap n there were no cups or anytin so i juz poured it in. ;p xtau how much i shud put it pon 2 begin with. Alhamdulillah,everytin was ok! Then i transferred everythin masuk dryer. I remembered my mum saying not 2 masukkan woolen things in dryer so i seperated them n masukkn normal clothes je.It costs 1pound, fyi. There!! wasnt so bad after all eyh. heheheh... it took 40min 2 cuci n 50min 2 dry.

Afta doing laundry i decided 2 go 2 Tesco Express which is juz outside my uni's entrance, at a petrol station btul2 seblah tube Oakwood station. (yes, my uni btul2 kt tube stop!)Wanted 2 buy minyak masak,marmite n milk! Atleast bole la masak nugget ke,goreng telur ke kn. But nk kluar g entrance tu kinda jauh gk n its like a creepy 2 lane road called snakes lane. So theres a free bus  from Uni til the entrance every 15min. If nk jalan pon bole, but its not advisable coz its sunyi, kiri kanan pokok n golf course, could be dangerous especially at nite. Naik bus 2 xsmp 5 min je dah smp, so everyone mmg tunggu that bus je nk klua masuk uni.

After buying at Tesco I went 4 a walk 2 see the shops along the road rite beside tesco. There were a library,bar,hair salons,printing shop,pharmacy,grocery shop,etc. Convenient jugak la. I went into this 1 shop n bought somemore hangers. hehehe... Dah 3 kali I beli hanger but still x cukup. Everytime i beli, its lg murah fr the last 1. At 1st i bought at Asda 6hangers=1pound, then i found 10hangers=97pents also at Asda, then at this kedai 12hangers=1pound. Nw i hv enough hangers! N i knw mane plg murah 2 buy if i need more. haha~
Thats all 4 that day. Went home n labelled my stuff 2 put in th fridge n goreng telur mkn wit roti marmite 4 dinner! =)

Today plak i didnt do anytin! Woke up really late! dunno wut happened. Slalu by 9am i dah bgn, but today qush called me coz he was wondering y I was so quiet n br i woke up which was already 1pm! tegolekk tul! Juz hung out in my room th whole day. Finally had time 2 read all the booklets n infos they gave us. I found out they wrote that our food here in campus is HALAL approved! it made me sooooo happy! But i still had 2 go make sure. So nnt la i go n ask. Its so easy 2 find halal food here rather than shz's place in aussie. Coz I went thru it with her there so i knw la kn. Her place ade la, but not as easy as it is here. Well, til nxt time! CHEERS! =)

IzzEY

Arriving London

This is my 1st time writing a blog. Ive never written in a blog b4, never thought of it at all actly. Coz I always wonder where do these ppl get the time to write about what happen every single day?hmmm...well since I am continuing my studies in London now, one of my best frens, Faizal kept on asking me to start writing a blog. He said that i should write my experiences here n also he wants 2 know wuts goin on n keep up wit me. So, here goes..........(was that too long 4 an intro...?) ;p

Arrived at Heathrow London Airport at 5.20am on 17th Sept 2009. It was a 12+ hr flight! my ass was hurting dy 4 sitting 4 too long..haha..Requested 4 an aisle seat, but when i got 2 it there was this mat saleh couple who asked me if they could switch places coz the guy was having stomach probs n afraid that he would hv 2 go 2 th toilet every once in a while (cirit birit pulak mat saleh ni), "Do u mind?" they said. So i juz said, "not at all" n ended up sitting by th window. I slept most of th time since i was bz packing the whole nite b4 n had no sleep! ade la gak tgk some vidz like the "Micheal Jackson:Unmasked" n listened to kelly clarkson n mliey cyrus' albums~
(dont wanna talk about what happened at th airport.Its too sad~ let it just be between me n the ppl who came) =)

So at the airport,managed to meet up wit other malaysians going to Middlesex Uni who were in the same flight.None of em are malay, n all doing undergrad studies at a diff campus than mine(tegolek!). Yg buat lame nye is going thru immigration, ramai sgt students n diorg check each one punye documents.Me wit my big laptop bag,hand luggage n handbag dah x larat dah ni.Smp2 je we looked for the ppl wit th Middlesex Uni lollipop sign.Found them! they were excited 2 meet us! siap tanye nk air ke x.. i got 1 mineral water..then we waited 4 the others 2 come,meaning ppl arriving from other countries. We didnt wait that long,i think they were from hong kong ke china..then diorg bwk us g kt bus then off we were!!Manage 2 make a few phone calls in the bus to my loved ones 2 tell them I've arrived safely. =)

I was the only 1 who they dropped off at trent park.Smp2 je diorg welcome me n helped to bring in my stuff.I checked in,got wutever papers/info they gave me then this student ambassador named Chloe brought me up 2 my room.My room is at the East wing, 1st floor, no E128.The room is AWESOME! pretty big, with a sink,mirror,big table,shelves n closet.The kitchen,small but compact.ade 3 fridge,2 freezer.BESAR plak tu.The bathroom=HEAVEN! mcm hotel pon ade. I heard later they juz re-did it so 2 yg lawa tu.everything in there is new.3 showers,2 toilets,1 sink. In my room on the table they gave me a lil box filled with almost everything! like a lil 'student kit' they call it.There were even a bottle of orange juice,a thumbdrive,toothpaste,moisturiser,tissue,chocs,soap,tea,coffee,etc.On the table were also an internet cable n a calender.Semua bende la diorg bg.I was impressed!The only thing tegolek about 2day is that I found there were few things wrong about my room.Cold water at my sink is not working and I had no light.It looks as though it was smashed or sumtin coz i found lil pieces off glass on my bed n carpet! I realized pon coz it went into my hand! so i went down n told them bout it.I even asked them 2 vacum coz there were glass everywhere.They said this was all coz they had contractors in 2 renovate n stuff thats y everyhing huru hara skit.Besides that, i went 2 get my student starter pack which again had all infos inside in order 2 get started including a sim card!its impossible 2 not know anything when they give u EVERYTHING! Im so glad i chose this uni.haha!The weather is also cold n am lovin it! n the scenery,oh so cantek!Ptg skit they took us 2 southgate, which is 1 tube stop away, to ASDA since thats the nearest big supermarket n tgk2 kedai2 around there(banks,mobile phone shops,mcD).I didnt manage 2 get a lot but i did get some necessary stuff.Surprisingly ade byk HALAL stuff there! HEAVEN!! frozen stuff n everything..hehe..definitely goin bck there!The student union bar is juz outside my window n I got a mkn voucher so i went down 2 see wuts there 2 eat! Since I cant eat the meat here, I ate everythin vegetarian.

2nd day.Ikut schedule mmg full! pg2 dah g dgr talk.Psl safety,career,health,etc.Met a few new frens,some malaysians some not.After that went 2 th library 2 enrol then straight buat student ID card.After that ade talk lg skit.This time the fireman, police n insurance ppl all ade.The police gave us a marker 4 us 2 label our stuff.They said it will only appear under the blue light! cool huh?Also a key alarm and a survival guide.Diorg ni bagus gile,semua bende bg.Siap dpt Middlesex Uni sling bag dlm ade buku 'study skills handbook' yg sgt tebal OK! That nite we juz had a lil dinner+party at the bar where they had a lucky draw where ppl won champagne bottles,iPods n laptops! I didnt win anything tho. ;p

3rd day.A bus picked us up n we went straight 2 central london.We had a tour of central london where there was a lady in front guiding us on wut we saw along the way.Its was very nice! We went over london bridge n everything! We stopped at convent garden where we all walked around by ourselves.There were so many ppl! Also so many shops. Ramai tourists around. Ade la gk few ppl performing sini sane buat mcm2 tgh2 jln n everyone was watching them perform all around n at the end semorg donate bg duit.Ade mcm market gk there jual mcm2 bende, x terkata! definitely a place 2 go if ure here!

4th day. Its our trip 2 Brighton 2day! It was a longggg 2hr drive there. Smp tertido2 smrg dlm bus. Smp sane sejuk gile!! it was at th sea. sgt chantekkk! sejuk2 tu ade gk org swim! x paham i. ade pier which goes out 2 the sea..kt dlm tu ade arcade,restaurants,shops n a playground at the end.I walked around there 4 awhile then a few frens ajak g mkn.So we went jln2 roun the shops there.Byk jugak kedai kt situ! we walked until we didnt realise that we went that far. Nasib diorg bg map.I found an 'everything 1 pound' shop! so i bought a lot fr there.Things like tissue,sugar,cereal,soup,toothpaste,etc.All juz 1 pound! Then i went 2 Primark since around my place there werent any.I bought 2 boots! a few warm clothing n a mug. Imagine bape byk brg i was bringing with me nk naik bus blk! hahahaha....I almost miss the bus since i was carrying so many things but so far away fr th bus stop! but at the end, puas ati!...

5th day. Im free 2day,theres nothing scheduled 4 2day. So juz woke up n spent time web-caming wit qush. =) talked a bit wit shz. ptg skit i went 2 ASDA 2 do a lil shopping. This time really shopping! had 2 get everything on my list kalau bole n all on my own sweet time. This is the 1st time im going out on my own. Learning 2 ride the tube 2 southgate n taking my time 2 look at the shops there. Bought so much at ASDA smp x larat nk bwk! DUNGU gk i ni...but then i didnt expect 2 buy so much pon. wit all th pinggan mangkuk,flask,hanger,tupperware,rug,baldi,etc. N also i bought some frozen halal food. mcm2 ade,nugget,ayam goreng,sausage,burger,samosa. hehe~ nk blk tu YA ALLAH! dah la byk,berat plak tu...nk jln smp tube station ade la gk cam dr Mcd sec3 smp umah i jauh die. I think i stopped like 5 times kot 2 re-gain strength n juz praying that nothing falls n break! my fingers all dah mati kot coz darah x jln! hahahha....but i did everything very slowly..took my time...1 step at a time..ade la gk org tlg2 skit2..bukakkan barrier n stuff..finally smp jugak! PUAS HATI SGT2!! necessaties sume dpt beli! n wit a good price!....got bck n semangat cite thru webcam ngn qush! hehehhehe...tunjuk die satu2 brg i beli ;p

Well thats its 4 nw on my journey in discovering London. Will update more later k. c ya!

IzzEY