Walking down a lane called Memory

This was our unit at the students' apartments

The best fish & chips at the Quayside Sunday Market, tambah2x it's been ages since I had the authentic English ones complete with soggy chips and mushy peas...this definitely adds to my existing love-handles and muffin tops!

Tak tentu hala dibuatnya tengok second-hand English novels going at 3 for 5 pounds at the Quayside Sunday Market. Managed to hangkut 6 of them thick ones. Wished I could buy more than that tapi takut overweight bag, dah la naik Ryan Air. Dekat Hannover susah nak dapat English story books.

Hakeem rubbing salt into Angah's wound.

Since we put up a night at Premier Inn Manchester Trafford Centre which is very near to Old Trafford, singgah sekejap just to snap some pictures. We didn't go for the stadium tour sebab dah pernah masuk dulu2x. Hakeem sajer nak bagi Angah jealous coz Angah yang teringin sangat nak pergi.

We had this as dessert at the ice-cream shop Moonlight opposite the beriani place. This one is called faluda... vanilla ice-cream topped with rose syrup and pink cendol. A bit too rich for my liking but since it came highly recommended we had a go at it, share 3 orang. The various ice-cream flavours are good though, Hakeem loved his mint-choc chip flavour until he saw the bubble gum ones.

This truly is the best nasi beriani ever, way...way lagi sedap dari those served at the restaurants in Malaysia. The rice is so flavourful that makan sajer pun sedap. Having it with close friends like Hj Khairy and Rose and their family makes it more memorable. Restaurant dia Al Jazeera di Manchester kecik jer and very unassuming.

Abah habis hati catching up with his Surau and golf buddy Hj Khairy dari Subang Jaya and Mama with his wife, Hjh Rose.

Prices for seconds at these 2 factory outlet stores (Wedgewood/ Portmeirion) are amazingly cheap. If you have an eye for mixing and matching discontinued items/ slightly imperfect items you'll get a full tea/ dinner set at a steal. A Wedgewood soup tureen by Vera Wang that cost 150 pounds are priced at only 18 pounds but then you have to look for other pieces from a different design to complete the set. Rose and her daughter Hani memang pandai look for bargains and artfully mix-and-matched them.

Eid 2010

Raya was a quiet family affair. Photo session malam-malam buta coz Mama had to go to work that day and the kids kena pergi sekolah. Abah pulak was away in Amsterdam to fetch Jaja.

Our Raya fare, my first attempt at rendang tok, pulut kuning, instant lemang ketupat, nasi impit, kuah kacang and the kids' favourite, lontong.

ISTANBUL

Since Jaja is here, we took the opportunity to go on a family holiday ke Istanbul (3-hour flight jer from Hannover) on the 2nd day of Raya, hence the baju kurung/ baju melayu while sightseeing. We got weird stares from people but what the heck. Some tourist even asked Syirah to take photos with them, jangan depa ingat itu traditional dress orang Turki dah! While the rest don teh attire for the whole day, Mama and Angah tukar uniform after the posing2x session. Mama sebab she has put on so much weight since puasa (org lose weight during puasa!) and Raya, baju dah sendat, not comfortable to go walking2x. Angah biasa ler...nak maintain cool. Baju pink tak macho laaaaa.....

Legoland @ Danemark

We also took the opportunity to make a short trip to Denmark since it is only a 4- hour drive from Hannover. Hakeem la.....asyik nak pergi Lego Land. The one in Billund is pretty big with outdoor rides although not so exciting for the bigger kids. Ada one or two rides jer yang Jaja and Syirah enjoyed. One of them entails the two sisters being tossed up, down, left, right, centre while being strapped in a chair. Kind of like in a spaceship. Queue panjang but depa sanggup tunggu and naik 2 kali.

Hakeem with the owner of the home-stay that we stayed the nite at. It was so cosy and cheap too. Ada pets that we can play with , swing tied to the apple tree, apple (masam, manis, crunchy...mcm mempelam muda) and plum trees with fruits hanging ready to be plucked in the spacious backyard and a huge trampoline to jump yourself silly.

Buka posa

Nothing very interesting to share except for our berbuka puasa menu for the last 2 weekends. Masak beriya hujung minggu. Weekdays simple-simple dishes ajer as Mama's at the office. Disebabkan ketiadaan pasar Ramadhan, kalau teringin nak makan the likes of nasi kerabu and nasi dagang which memang Mama tak pernah buat di Malaysia, di sini semua pun kena buat sendiri although they're perantauan version without some of the original ramuan. Just make do with what we have here.

Hakeem puasa weekends only. Every hour jenguk dapur and tanya berapa lama lagi nak berbuka. When Mama made pizza siap reserve a whole pizza to himself, bila time berbuka 2 keping pun tak habis.

Asam pedas ayam

Masak lemak rebung with udang

Nasi kerabu with ayam percik

Mac & Cheese - Hakeem's favourite and a must kalau dia puasa.

Badak berendam. Hakeem calls it 'hippo in the mud'.

Soya cincau

Nasi dagang, resipi taken from blog Cik Mat Gebu. Thank you Cik Mat for a truly and utterly yummy recipe.

What's this? Ice cream? No...marshmallows...also no. Biskut Arab dough in various colours to be mixed at Hakeem and Syirah's fancy. Thanks to cousin Wiz who gave Mama some wonderful gel food colouring, this year's biskut Arab takes on several different shades than our normal red/green/yellow. Tahun ni ada purple and blue colour to play with. Mama tukang bancuh jer, the rest Syirah buat with a little help from Hakeem and Angah.

Hakeem had fun helping around gelentel the dough. He said feels like playing with play dough. He got really excited when he managed to produce the yin and yang effect.

Biskut Arab all baked.

The end result all dolled-up. Yummy...melt in the mouth. For those yang interested, this is Tok Ma's recipe. It's so easy peasy to make with only 5 ingredients. Here's the recipe :

BISKUT ARAB

4 cawan tepung gandum (may have to add bit more depending on the consistency)
2 egg yolk
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
Satu tin sederhana minyak sapi (ghee)
Some milk powder mixed with caster sugar for coating

1.Beat egg yolk with sugar till fluffy
2.Add ghee, mix well
3.Add flour, mix till you get a consistency which can be shaped with your hands
4.Add food colouring of your choice and shape as desired
5.Bake in oven at 180 degrees for 15-20 minutes
6.Roll cookies in mixture of sugar and milk powder