Blue sky after rain

I was preparing our breakfast earlier today when the heavy rainfall hits .. I think it was only lasts for two hours but some area already affected by flood flashing..dangerous.

The sun shone again, then a brighter day. Biru betul langit kat oversea ni, orang kata. Ya, I think so.




We took Aariz to a park today


fascinated by daddy's bubble bubble


favorite dia la ni main slide


mummy

And later we went to Morissons for dinner



Kids eat free after 4pm. We had vege lasagne as adult menu, but dapat free macaroni cheese, slices of fruits, juice and choc bar for Aariz. Hee but Aariz loves lasagne.

The cashier guy told us that they use the same pan to fry fish or chips or bacon! Oh my! sigh.. tak dapatlah order fish and chips. He's a muslim.





Dah nak puasa

posted from Bloggeroid

Istanbul : from Sultanahmet to Taksim

Memories are priceless. I've told you that I loved every inch of Istanbul ( well, where we left), thus I have to carefully write them in my blog. So I have another 2 or 3 entries before I finally end the story of my Istanbul trip.

I'm going to London, alas!, on monday. So I will try to finish Istanbul before I can update on London. Kan?

Well, just recap briefly on what we did on the second day; visited Hagia Sophia, once was a church and turned to a mosque then a museum now. Later found myself underneath the Sultanahmet .. in the Cistern Basilica, the ancient water tank. We had our lunch at Sultanahmet square restaurant, layan Aariz chasing birds at Sultanahmet square that once was the Byzanine forum, and later performed solat at the Blue Mosque. You might question how did we squeezed all sites in a day? Because those remarkable buildings are located in same area - Sultanahmet, the only tourist spot that has all important sites in one place. Sultanahmet kan old city, so yeah.

After solat, off we went to Taksim Square, located at the new city of Istanbul. Not a walking distance. Quite far. We used tram as mode of transportation.

pemandangan sekitar station tram Sultanahmet

Kabatas station is the nearest station to reach Taksim. Previously, we had to change tram at Eminonu. So it was like, Sultanahmet - Eminonu - Kabatas. Hmm tiring but we just enjoyed the scene as it was. Cantik.

Kabatas was a nice place..if I could stretch the above picture, you could see the sea on the right. Best..ada orang memancing, mother and kids at playground..and maybe food stalls. But it was Taksim that we were heading to.

From Kabatas tram station, we went to another mode of transportation that has its station underground - Fenicular. Fenicular is like a cable car. It has only one stop..up or down. Hubby told me, the construction might cost millions. I mean, just the coach itself.

 perasan tak bentuk dia tu lain? tengok yang pintu dan garisan kuning tu.

buy new token .. 4TL one way.

Can you see the cable? ok someone is admiring the engineering =) He's into public highway and transportation. One elevator up, and we reached the Taksim Square

We didn't took much time at the square, because it was very crowded. We continued on to Istikhlal street. Orang kata kat sini barang mahal2, ada seorang pakcik tu pesan. Yes indeed. Kat sini nampaklah butik2 ternama gitu.

Taksim at night

Went back to Sultanahmet about maghrib. Performed solat at Firuz camii (mosque), and headed to our hotel. Oh Sultanahmet square turned to a romantic place at night. With a background of the Blue Mosque illumination, and the doves were flying up its dome. Cantik, believe me.

mini stadium tour Villa Park

There was a kit launch event at Villa Park in Aston. Villa Park is a home stadium for Aston Villa fan club. The stadium is only a stone throw away from our house.

They were introducing their new jersey. Harus tahu kalau kat England ni bab2 bola memang meriah. And we were tagged along heh.. The event was more like family event. Mini concert, food stalls, soft bouncing playground for children, introducing to fire engine (tak penah2 la kan ambil gambar dengan kereta bomba), face painting and also mini stadium tour. Kalau harga biasa mau 10++pounds tapi hari tu dapat 2pound saja..

So off we went to Villa Park!



my first time visit to Villa Park for the game between Aston FC and Manchester United woot! And my husband, hmm coutless time. Arsenal ke Liverpool ke semua lah pegi tengok. We have few friends staying at Aston so they got cheap tix



William McGregor the fan club founder. Asalnya tempat ni macam playground biasa tapi keazaman bola diorang tu..well, football is a serious business.

Aston Villa won the European cup in 1982. Kira club hebat la juga.



I somehow like this pic hehe


Hubby and a friend. Behind is a mini concert performed by local singer. I tak kenal. Mungkin artis AF kat sini kot



Introducing the fire engine to children.





So memang ramailah orang beli jersi baru hari tu. Above is how they print names on jersey

Aston Villa FC profile

Lining up for stadium mini tour..Aariz mestilah tak duk diam hehe





Inside the changing room..or might be where the players to discuss about the game

FA, European and Carling cup yang di menangi Villa

rumput kena selimut

Photo of the day! hehe

I know stadium isn't Aariz's thing, yet, so I promised some exciting activity for him. Selalu dalam plan kena ada 'peruntukan' untuk anak juga hehe.

Playground!

posted from Bloggeroid

lunch picnic at the Black Country open museum

Soon after Eryantie told me that she's coming to UK, we've been planning a trip to this open museum located in Dudley. Not very far from our house so it meant for a day trip, and a picnic trip yay!

Black Country got its name as an industrial region in the midland of England. Their industries includes coal, iron, steel, glass.. and some that you can imagine. So this open museum giving a tribute to the traditional lives, memang hidup betul tempat ni. Yang bestnya most of the buildings are original and relocated from their original sites.  

Kalau sebelum ni tengok yang lavish je, palaces and castles, now jom tengok the life of the ordinary people in the early 20th century..

Midlands..that's our place...to Worcester via Bromsgrove, I think it's quite far.

We had a chance to see their cottage with vege garden, and their living quaters. Middle class family rumah kecil tapi ramai anak..while yang posh pula anak dua je..

 at the back kitchen 

This place is real. I asked them and they told me their stories ; the housewives, the glass maker, the tailor, the chemist .. memang feel la kat sini. The citizen visitors tu I think they were reminscing their old times ..

and we walked to their town, hopped on the tram ride..

So, we had picnic lunch..letih jugalah mengejar Aariz berlari2 kan..he was very happy enjoying the view and the sun. Kalau duk kat oversea ni memang happy sangat dapat matahari =)

After lunch, we continued again to the other part of the town, which has their schools, chapel and of coz more shops..

school children and their teacher.
taktaulah kalau budak2 ni semua berlakon on that day..rasa macam kitorang pula ter 'back to the past'. 

more shops

Eryantie at a drug store. Orang ni cakap, those days botol perfume mahal, orang refill kalau nak beli.

Us infront of hygine shop..tengok la bath tub tu hehe

Oh did I mention about coal? Oh we went down a tunnel, joined the racecourse colliery. It was dark, narrow-gauge and such that we bent our knee most of time inside there. It wasn't the first time for me, had this experience in Beijing and Padang Indonesia. Tapi yang tu lebih kepada pertahanan, but this time we learnt about their limestone mine industries. Man, everyone was working hard for living..can't imagine that =(  Baru masuk 40 minit pun dah rasa sesak nafas. Aariz was sleeping all the way. 

So we knew, the Black Country was one of the most heavily industrilised area in Britain (and pollution, I believe) Kalau nak maju semua orang kenalah kerja keras..eh tiba2 kesimpulan =)