Feeding Squirrels at Brandon Hill

The weather has not been exactly great.  It had been wet for the past few weeks and there were days when temperature dipped to zero degree - ideal for snuggling in bed...  I practically had to drag my feet to go to school everyday! Huhuhu...  With autumn settling in, it gets dark (and cold) pretty early in the evening and by 5.30 p.m. I would be on my way home.  There's dinner to prepare and the usual household chores to do.  By 8.30 p.m., everyone (save for hubby) would have plonked in bed and before you know it, another day begins.  Dreary days, ain't it?  Therefore, I always look forward to weekends, especially Sunny Sundays :).  

Alhamdulillah, we had been blessed with good weather for two Sundays now.  It was during the first Sunday that I discovered a gem of a park near my school (Graduate School of Education).  Well, I knew that Brandon Hill was just a few metres away but I didn't know that it was a lovely park teeming with birds and squirrels!

I remembered dragging my sons up the hill for the first time to take some autumn pictures.  They had wanted to follow my husband and daughter to the art shop down the road, but I sort of forced them to come with me ...  Kuikuikui!

Cabot Tower at the top of Brandon Hill

Notice of Cabot Tower undergoing restoration

Cabot Tower on a bright sunny afternoon

One smiling face

Finally... 2 smiling faces :)

Yeah, they protested loudly at first, but was soon taken by the beauty of the place and its little "dwellers".  So they begged me to come again the following Sunday as they had wanted to feed the squirrels.  So, we went there again last Sunday, with a tubful of hazel nuts - leftovers from Amani's baking activities :).

a squirrel nibbling our hazel nut

Boy, did they come to us!  Big, thin, bushy-tailed - you name it.  Macam-macam pe'el.  Some took the nuts and nibbled happily in front of the camera.  There was one which had the peculiar habit of burying the nuts.  Maybe stocking-up for cold winter days :) ... Others just snatched the nuts and were gone in a flash. 

I didn't quite succeed to take nice pictures of the squirrels in action and it was only later that I remembered that I could have actually videoed them in action with my Nikon.  Lupa lak ... tee hehe!

Nampak macam sang kancil lah pulak! :P

Jon was clearly the squirrel's favourite! :D

Squirrel yang kurus dan berekor panjang



Squirrel yang sihat sket ...

Bushy-tailed squirrel

While the kids were busy feeding the squirrels and feeding themselves as well (hazel nuts tu !), I took the chance to enjoy the ambience while capturing some autumn scenes.   Loved the effect of the natural evening light on my pix! :)

see the squirrel on the path?

I had to coax my son Jon to go home when it got cold and had to promise to come back again.  Looks like it's Brandon Hill next weekend, too! :D

Redup dan nyaman

Nice view of Bristol city from Brandon Hill

Time to go boys ...

Oxford Street

Our last night in London was spent in Oxford Street.  Since we left Malaysia, it has been a while since we last jalan-jalan at night.  Most shopping complexes in Bristol close by 8.00 p.m. on weekdays and 4.00 p.m. on Sundays.  Yeah ... B*O*R*I*N*G!  Therefore, Oxford Street brought back fond memories of our weekly excursions to Suria KLCC, Sunway Pyramid and the evergreen Subang Parade :).

We didn't really explore the whole length of the road as we had made plans to have dinner with BIL and his wife.  So, we just loitered around Selfridges and took pictures while waiting for them to arrive.


The clock at Selfridges

In front of Selfridges

Penarik beca di London :)

I think Selfridges was promoting their shoe collection at that time because they had this fantastic nursery-ryhme-themed series of  shoe display.  I had to take some photos :)

What about shopping, you say?  Nothing that we don't already have :). 

Trafalgar Square - where have all the pigeons gone?!

From Covent Garden, we made our way to Trafalgar Square.  When we reached the place, the police had just removed the cones on the street.  There were hordes of people in front of the National Gallery.  The Pope might have just addressed the Catholics here, I figured.  Only later did I find out that the Pope had not been there but various anti-Vatican groups had assembled at Trafalgar Square to voice-out their protests!  Kui! Kui! Kui!
 

Protestors and sightseers mingled in front of the National Gallery

If we hadn't promise to meet my BIL and his wife there, we would have entered the National Gallery.  Teringin nak tengok Van Gogh's Sunflower :) and the works of Renoir, Rembrandt and Monet ...  Nevermind, some other time :).   So we just took some photos outside the place.

National Gallery
north of Trafalgar Square



posing on Nelson's Column



... in the background is St. Martins-in-the-Field's Church

"Hah, nak ambik gambar Tourism Malaysia ke??" 
Tiba-tiba terdengar suara sumbang suamiku...
I thought he was poking fun at me as usual, but on further scrutiny I saw that a Tourism Malaysia office was indeed on the right side of Admiralty Arch!  Hehehe!


Admiralty Arch to the Southwest



See the lion's head??

... and the lion's rear (on the left)

Orang kata kalau ke sini mesti ambik gambar dengan singa bronze tu kan?  Well, I don't know how I could have missed taking a 'whole' picture of one of those lions (there were four!!).  I remembered trying very hard to get a nice angle of the lion but just couldn't because other avid photographers were constantly blocking my view trying to get their best shot!  Huh!  Must seriously consider getting wide-angle or zoom lenses...

With BIL and his lovely wife :)

So, that's about it.  We came, we took pictures, we bonded... but wait!  Where have all the pigeons gone?!  Read all about it at this link...

West End walk: The Strand & Covent Garden

We've heard so much about this place.  I siap ingat tempat tu taman bunga! Kui! Kui! Kui!  Dah tentu bukan... :P.  So, on our second day, we decided to check the place out.  From our homestay in Willesden, we took the tube to the Enbankment station and from there, made our way to Covent Garden on foot.  We passed The Strand, home to a few London theatres.  In its heyday, it used to be the hub of Victorian Theatre and nightlife and there were at least 11 theatres then.  Now there are only 4.

walking along The Strand

 

The Adelphi Theatre



The Savoy Theatre



The Lyceum Theatre

After a while we finally reached our destination:  Covent Garden :)!




Outside Covent Garden

 

Inside...

ala-ala Central Market KL



There was the Apple Market in Covent Garden.  Just as Covent Garden was not a garden, the Apple Market did not have apples :).  Instead, all kinds of clothes, art and crafts were sold there.  The atmosphere reminded me of the weekend flea market at the Curve :)!

My kind of thing :)



Next we ventured into the Jubilee Market Hall which has more stuff on sale.  Unfortunately, the vendors were quite reluctant to be photographed.  Takut orang tiru idea kot??? :P.  So the only photo that I got of this place was this...

The Jubilee Market Hall features different items on different days.  On Mondays it's antiques.  Tuesdays to Fridays:  general market.  Weekends:  arts and crafts.

Verdict:  My kind of place :)!  Yours too if you're into flea market nick nacks, arts and crafts.  Cuma, tak sama dengan flea market kat Asia where you can haggle for price of things.  Oh well,  different place, different culture :). 

London Eye

Next on the list was the London Eye.  It was just me and my sons as the father and daughter were not really keen on the ride.  The queue was rather long and when it was my turn, I was surprised that the tickets were not as expensive as I thought.  Adults pay 17.95 pounds while children, 9.50 pounds each.  Yang mahal tu tiket combination...  It's cheaper to buy online, of course. 


Before we got on the ride, we were ushered to a nearby theatre for a 4D experience of the London Eye.  Yeah, the in-thing in tourism London now is 4D.  Well, as long as it is FREE (it comes with the tickets), I'm not complaining :P!  Heck, I didn't even raise an eyebrow when I had to part with some money (again!) for the photo packs (one large photo, a photo key chain & photo fridge magnet).  Yeah, this in-situ no-obligations photo thingy seems to be the norm in London :P.  I ended being a few pounds poorer but the delighted faces of my boys...  PRICELESS! :)


Me filling up 'the gap'

We had to queue again before getting into the capsule (that's what they call 'em).  Our bags were thoroughly checked for sharp items.  Yeah, the day we were in London was also the day when THE POPE came a-calling.  Security was tight everywhere we went.  After a while, we were ushered into a capsule. 

all smiles... tercapai hasrat :)

Houses of Parliament from the London Eye

Rare moments of brotherly love :P

This was how the capsule looked like

Top of the world @ capsule moments :)

When you're at the top,
don't forget to look down :)

Our ride took 30 minutes but the whole London Eye experience (queuing to buy tickets, 4D experience, queuing for the ride, the ride)  was longer than that.  By the time we got off, hubby and Amani had already been loitering for quite sometime and were hungry again!  Begitulah putaran perut diorang... hehehe!

Verdict :  OKlah...  London Eye was bigger than Eye on Malaysia, so you wouldn't feel the capsule moving.  No flipping of the stomach or dizzy fits, folks!  There were seats for passengers but most people prefer to stand anyway.  Not really a WOW experience but as long as the kids are happy, (their atuk happy), I'm happy! :P

London Revisited - Madame Tussauds

We were in London again, recently.  My BIL and his wife came all the way from Kuala Lumpur for raya-cum-holiday-cum-honeymoon and we had to meet up.  Of course, we were there for our Malaysian goodies too - baju, kuih and duit raya (my children lah :P). We took the opportunity to spend time together and took the kids sightseeing.  After all, my dad kept reminding me to take his cucus to those paid-up places of interest as he had given the angpow.  I confess I have been very miserly (Kui!Kui!Kui!) with my money but who could blame me?  I'm just a student living on a shoe-string scholarship... Huhuhu...

Our first outing was Madame Tussauds.  Well, it was only BIL, his wife Nani, the daughter and me, actually.  Hubby decided that he's not going to waste his time and money gawking at some lifeless statues.  So, hubby and my sons had their father-son time elsewhere.

I bought the tickets online as they were supposed to be cheaper but believe me, they're not...  For three adults and one child I had to fork out about 97 Pounds:  82.72 + VAT 14.48.  Well, that's how things are here: duit, duit, duit (macam lagu M. Nasir tu...:P). 

There was a long (but moving) queue at the entrance of Madame Tussauds eventhough we had purchased so-called Priority-Access Tickets.  Tak ada maknanya... seemed like everybody else had purchased them too :P. 

It was a 'working' Friday morning, and yet the exhibition hall was brimming with people.  I don't remember seeing so many people in my friends' pictures of Madame Tussauds.  Siap boleh posing maut lagi.  Well, not on the day of our visit.  People were queuing to take pictures with their idols which weren't even real!  Well, as Nani my SIL put it: "Nak bergambar dengan orang betul, belum tentu dapat...".  So, there we were, joining the crowd.


With Julia Roberts :)



Marilyn Monroe



Miley Cyrus

Johnny Depp



Brangelina too :),
These statues don't really look like them, do they??



This picture of us with Shahrukh Khan was actually taken for the sake of my friend, Bunny who was crazy of him (Jangan marah, Bunny :)).  Tak minat pun...  In fact, SRK was not mobbed by fans compared to Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai; hence no pix of us with these Bollywood stars!



Barulah dapat posing macam ye ye je... Hehehe!
Audrey Hepburn - Breakfast at Tiffany's



Princess Diana lives on



The grand old dame - Madame Tussaud


Besides taking pictures ourselves, there were also in-house photographers who took pictures of visitors with the more in-demand statues such as Robert Pattinson (of Twilight fame), Michael Jackson and the Queen & the Duke of Edinburgh (to name a few).  No obligation to buy these photos.  If you like 'em, you buy em.  If not, don't need to.  Never thought that I would fall for this :P.  Our picture was taken when we were on the Spirit of London ride, and I thought that the edited picture turned out pretty cool .  So, I parted with a few pounds for it :)

We went to all the exhibition zones except for the Chamber of Horrors and Scream.  BIL had gone there during his last visit.  SIL and my daughter were too scared to enter.  So, I had to forego that as nobody would accompany me... Huhuhu!  Anyway, the Spirit of London ride and the 9-minute Marvel Super Heroes 4D film quickly cheered me up! 

Verdict:  Not bad at all!  I enjoyed myself immensely minus the pushing and jostling!  The experience could have been better if the place wasn't too crowded.  Perhaps cheaper tickets in the future?? (Fat chance! :P)

Raya in Bristol

This year my family celebrated Eid ul-Fitr for the first time in Bristol.  Well, we did get the chance to experience  raya in Bristol last year because we came to Bristol three days after Eid, but I was still curious of how it would feel on the first day of Eid.  Well, Raya is Raya :)!

On the eve of Eid, there was the preparation of food for the next day.  The only difference was instead of my mom, I was the one slaving in the kitchen... huhuhu!  My family's juadah wajib was the Rendang Cili Api Pilahdelphia eaten with nasi impit (rice cubes) and lemang.  Thanks to the microwave, making lemang could not have been easier :)!

On the morning of Eid, after asking for forgiveness among family members, we rushed for the Eid gathering.  The only difference was, instead of having our family and relatives with us, we have the Malaysian Community of Bristol (MCB) to bond with.  So, there was the Aidil Fitri prayers, feast and photography sessions - just like in Malaysia :)

Next came the jalan raya @ open-houses.  Open house is a unique concept only practised in Malaysia.  During festivals such as Eid, Chinese New Year, Deepavali and Christmas, Malaysians often 'open' their houses to family, friends and strangers even, to join in the celebration and enjoy the food. 

In Bristol, we not only attended a few open-houses but also got to organize one!  (watch the vid :D)

So, this year it was satay as usual for my family.  Only difference was it was not ordered in bulk from the restaurant but we (org Kg. Filton) made them ourselves!  Wow!  Being overseas did bring out the best in us... hehehe!

Yes, we do missed our loved ones back home.  Thanks to Skype, we got to share our joy with them :).

Raya in Bristol was not so bad after all :).

Hanya kad pengganti diri...

Happy Birthday Jon :) ... Kaulah segalanya

song:  Kaulah segalanya (You're my everything)

singer:  Hazrul Nizam

Since Slide.com no longer permit the embedding of Youtube videos to their slide shows (...since Google's acquisition of Slide.com??), I had a rough time trying to find a slide maker that could embed songs for my personal project - a birthday video (present) for my son.   Sampai tak tidur malam dibuatnya.  Buat assignment pun tak macam ni... Kui! Kui! Kui!  After experimenting endlessly with a few free slidemakers and googling (the irony of it...), I finally found the so-call slide maker in the form of Picasa 3 (which was right under my nose all the time!  Grr!!!).  After successfully putting together the slide cum video project, another headache:  couldn't straightaway upload it to Blogger via Picasa.  Frust betul!!  After a few more rounds of troubleshooting, googling and youtubing, in the end I managed to upload my video  to this blog.  Alhamdulillah :).  Not as easy as it used to be with Slide.com but at least I learnt a LOT of things:

#1    Perseverence in the face of adversity.  Don't easily give up!
#2    Patiently troubleshoot using whatever resources you have at hand (in my case:  Google and Youtube).  Do-it-yourself first before asking for help.  You would be surprise with your capabilities and creativity!
#3    Lastly, kalau tak boleh jugak, seek advice from the expert, techie, husband :) ... whoever that can help you solve the problem.  It's also good to pray for some divine intervention.  Always helps :)

If only I'm all this charged-up when I'm doing my research.... Huhuhu! :P. 

On a positive note, I might even do a Youtube Picasa video upload tutorial to help bloggers who faced the same problem.  Online publishing, here I come!! (If I have the time that is... :)).

In the meantime enjoy my labour of love :).  For those who know Malay, you'll know that this song is not exactly about a mother's love... hehehe!  However, I feel the melody of the song suits this project.  I can still remember how I was terpana (awed??)  when I first heard the song being delivered by the little-known singer, Hazrul, at a glitzy Malaysian TV Award Show in 2006...

Hope you enjoy it too :)!