Weekend trip to Bath, England Part 1

Trip to Bath Oct 18th-20th

Laughton arranged this short trip for us to visit his friend in Bath and also to take me to Bath since I have not been there yet. It was quite a long way drive to Bath and it looked really pretty and picturesque during our way into town. We went out to the local pub nearby for a drink and then went back home to Bernie & Pete's for dinner. We headed out quite early the next day (yeah around half past 11) and then headed to do some sight-seeing around the city of Bath.

Ben & me. He is just so cute!!

We were at the Royal Crescent Houses to start with. Weather was really lovely and so good for walking around.

One of the oldest round-abouts here. The houses are built in a shape of a circle, quite unique really.

I heard you find many pigs like this around Bath, well I only found one so far.

Just walking around the shops.
We bumped into this sausage place, I was quite amazed with the various types of sausages. But didn't get to try any. :(

They even do Bath sausages! Wow! Maybe we could start making Malacca or Kuala Lumpur sausages back at home.
I see this quite often in England. Faggots; I didn't know you could price them! Ha ha

Anyway, I have yet to try some faggots.

We went into the Bath Abbey too.
Just walking into the Roman bath entrance. 2 and a half men.
Stay tuned for the next part on the Roman bath!

Curry Mile in Manchester

Drove up to Manchester for dinner at the Curry Mile (basically a long road with plenty Indian restaurants on both sides) and then off to the airport to pick his parents. I was well impressed with the number of South Asian restaurants located along both sides of the street. The Curry Mile is a nickname for the part of Wilmslow Road running through Rusholme. But the largest concentration would be the Indian curry houses. I saw quite a lot of take-aways and kebab houses too.

I like the restaurants here, particularly this one where we dined at. Friendly waiter got us a table almost immediately as we walked in, unlike the one we went in Notts where the waiter was quite arrogant and gave us THE look when we said we didn't make any reservations. Try telling my friends and family back at home, whoever needs to book for a curry ever? Ridiculous. Anyway, we were browsing through the menu and minute later we got our drinks and the papadum, even before ordering them. I like it because I was really starving from the journey from Notts that took 3,123 hours (maybe not that long, did take longer than usual due to the road works and heavy Friday traffic). Check out the stuff that came with our papadum. I love the mango chutneys! Papadum was crispy and not oily, unlike the ones covered with grease at the curry place in Notts.

Pulau rice was really good and I enjoyed it a lot along with my curries.

We had the chicken Jalfrezi and this was easily the best I have ever had. Very original and had some thick sauce. A bit spicy too.

Next up was the lamb Madras, very good and quite spicy too. Proper curry should taste some spiciness if they should be spicy. Not like some curry houses where they claim its spicy but I really find them bland. I had a "token one drop sweat" that night, acknowledging that the curries were a little spicy and it's good.

I took a picture of this for Belle to show her how they serve the naan bread here. Haha I found them ridiculous and super funny, reminded me of a restaurant in the Gordon Ramsay- Kitchen Nightmares programme on a curry house in Notts sometime back. He hated the naan bread stand. I still can't accept this stand, why??? Anyway, the bread didn't taste good, still miles away from Pak Putra in Melaka. Good value for money, bill came just under 20quid including drinks (no alcohol).

Happy pleased face with a proper curry for dinner. I was tempted to order a chicken Vindaloo for dessert. :P

Fancy an afternoon walk in Toton?

We rarely get sunshine here really, I miss it sometimes because I keep making excuses for not going for my walks if I don't see sunshine haha. The English weather really makes you feel lazy and just wanna stay tucked up in bed and just messing around with your MacBook Pro really. :) Okay I probably should stop moaning about the English weather if I am supposed to be here for some time. Anyway I was still quite pumped up about my daily walking habits I started back in Melaka before I got here, so it was quite a nice day and we (me, Laughton and his mum) put on our walking shoes and brought my Nikon along and started walking. We had a pretty good walk maybe close to one and half hours and we had a look around at the Garden Centre (just a big name for nursery basically).

Still feeling a little cold, I could use my windbreaker really, but it's still in transit from Melaka. Need to wait until my parents come with the rest of my bags. :)

Laughton's attempt at taking a macro shot at the little bee while I ran away avoiding the bee. I had always wanted to do a macro shot on a bee but guess it's a bad idea if I don't have the astronaut suit on.

I love the purple tone of this cabbage like flower. It had the texture of a cabbage too!

Pretty colour of the chrysanthemum.

Cute dainty flowers growing from the bushes and they were so sweet, really!

Beautiful purple chrysanthemum. So vivid.

Arrived in England!

Hello everyone, I got here to England in one piece and so did my bags. Quite a pleasant journey, 13 hour seemed short actually after my long trip to and back from Bermuda! I flew Air Mauritius I guess they are having an alliance with Air Asia X and the ride was pretty good actually. Cabin was probably nicer than some of the old rattling MAS planes but I didn't enjoy the food. Anyway, I was extremely pleased to get all my bags arrive safely to Toton (that's where his folks are living right now and us)

My special treat. I was complaining about how boring English breakfast was and I missed nasi lemak or chicken rice balls or wan tan mee and Laughton made this corned beef sandwich with a poached egg for me. It was good and I had it with some Lingham's chilli sauce we got from Tesco. :) By the end of the week, only one-third of Lingham's was left in the bottle. So versatile you can eat it with almost everything.

Outside his home, Toton, Nottingham.
Across his home.
They have this wheely/eye thingy all around the world must be? Posing with the eye in Derby.
Enjoying a cuppa caramel macchiato from Starbucks after shopping in Westfield Mall, Derby. I was looking for green tea latte but I think they don't do it in England Starbucks. Damn.
Autumn in England.
Guild Hall in Derby.
We are still in Derby here.
Up close.

9 days left to England

Happier days.

Days are flying past me so quickly, I could hardly believe that I am leaving home after almost 6 months break just lazing around at home spending time with my family and friends; next thing I know I will be leaving soon. In approximately 9 days time. Mixed feelings really, I am extremely pleased to be able to meet Laughton again after being apart for 3 months; but am sad at the same time because I do not have anymore available days or slot times left to spend with my family and friends. My Ical just said October 12th - Flight to England and then blank all the way. My goodness, this is for real. I remember being ambitious and thinking, I want to do this, learn this and that and sadly, I don't think I had accomplished much.

I am thankful to God for everything that happened since January this year, I am sure He has a plan for me. Never imagined that I could take such a long break off work and just having some personal time for myself to relax and really think what I want in life. I feel rejuvenated and fresh, seeking for fresh challenges and moving onto my/our next phase in life. I am grateful for all the emotional and yes, financial support especially from Laughton and my parents and family. Never would have done it without your support. Thank you! :)

I still get that ever popular question even until today, "So, what have you been doing?" My answer: Ermm, nothing. Nothing since mid-January, with a BIG smile. People seem amazed and I know deep inside they must be thinking I would be bored as hell but no, I just love doing nothing.