How I spent the Winter Vacation 2008

Hi,

By end of December, the weather was pretty much wintry and windy in Durham. 2-4 deg celcius weather with strong winds were very usual.
This time around I received 2 visits: 1. visit from Tok Lang and Tok Pa, and 2. Visit from Firdaus and Ana.

Visit from Tok Lang and Tok Pa

I have a grand aunt and grand uncle living in Hackney, London who regularly drive up to Durham. They are permanent residents of UK. Anyway, they often come to Durham because their second son, Epi lives in Durham! Epi (atau nama sebenarnya Lutfi ) is a medical practitioner here at North Durham University Hospital. Epi lives in Sedgefield with wife Ezlin (I call her Kak Lin, who is also a doctor) and their daughter little Maryam (my cutest cousin, age two years!). Seronok sgat bile berjumpe, felt very much like home..:)

During the Christmas week, I spent most of my time in Sedgefield, played with little Maryam, and the best thing was we ate turkey on Boxing Day! (I told Sayang about the turkey meal and he said wah macam celebrate Xmas plak hehe). But indeed it was a real family gathering, and Tok Pa's special turkey was indeed Super Fulfilling! Syukur dengan nikmat Allah:). Sayang and Tok Pa dua2 minat Arsenal hheehe so bile krm salam through phone tu siap berpesan may Arsenal win hehehe.Twas fun...Thank you all for being there for me. Hilang sedikit rasa rindu pada yg teristimewa..ahaks.


Visit from Firdaus and Ana

By Dec 28, Firdaus (Sayang's best friend ever) and wife Ana arrived Durham. They've been travelling around; from Paris, Milan then London.And finally Durham.

On the same day Epi and Kak Lin took me to their friend's place in Newcastle for dinner and sent me home only 2hours before the couple arrived!! Sempat masak nasi tomato dan lauk ayam hhehehe...seronok jadi host ni...hehe..adala teman berbual kalau x duduk sorang2 kat rumah la jwbnya.

I just recovered from flu; alhamdulillah dh smakin sihat. So berjalan2 dgn Firdaus and Ana. They rented a car so we were very much mobile throughout their visit. 1st day bawa g York Designer Outlet and my gosh, they both (Ana especially) enjoyed shopping very much!!! Kita ikut je..hehe. 2nd day shopping kat Durham city pula. Unfortunately Magrib masuk by 4pm during winter so sightseeing activity was pretty much limited because daytime was sooo short, cuma 8.30am-4pm sahaja. So rushed jugala ke sana ke mari. Took them solat kat Masjid Durham di Old Elvet. Hehehe..1st day kita masak kari daging makan dgn roti nan as our bekal makanan dekat York, dan second day tu makan fish n chips kat Durham city. The night before they left Firdaus masak spageti hehehe. Best jugala kan..hhe.

The last day was sad...dah nak balik tetamuku. Anyway thanks for cheering me up, and thanks for taking me around as well! Don't mind at all jadi tour guide, lagi seronok adala..great escapism from research...haha:D..tapi ada sedikit rasa jealous sebab diaorg dh nk blk Msia. Kan seronok kalau saya dapat ikut..huhuhu.

Rindu mendatang..sabar2...uhuhuhu..
:)
A.A.T