What I've been up to

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cooking

Anakku...

After 39 weeks and 5 days, we are proud to present our beautiful baby boy, Muhammad Naqeeb b Muhd Sujairi to the world.. Alhamdulillah, everything went well. I had normal delivery and baby was delivered on 20th August at 6.16am at St Peter's Hospital, Surrey..

I was fortunate to have both my loving hubby and my supportive mum with me at labour ward.. Sakitnya bersalin Allah saja yg tahu.. teringat Surah Maryam menceritakan bagaimana Maryam sewaktu sakit bersalin berpaut kepada pohon tamar for support.. My doa, semoga baby adik jadi orang soleh dan penyejuk hati Ummi dan Abah..

Allah knows best..

Being brought up in a religious background, my faith has always been my salvation. Throughout history, religion has always been a saviour, an answer to life's complicated questions..

Though the baby has not yet arrived, i know Allah knows best.. Aqil is 2 years old and cannot tak properly yet, i know that Allah knows best.. why things are happening now than before, only Allah knows why..

Yes sure we try, we work at things, we make doa.. but like my wise mum always say.. we do not always know what lies in the future.. what Allah does not give in this way, He will compensate with other things..

'Dan sekiranya harta benda itu berharga disisi Allah, nescaya akulah antara orang berada.. namun, harta benda tidak berharga sebesar nyamuk pun, tetapi bagi mereka Allah berikan kefahaman tentang perkara' -sabda Rasulullah-


yes, we don't know what the future holds..


wahai Tuhan yang membolak balikkan hati, tetapkankanlah hati ku pada jalanMu yang lurus...


Tiada apa yang pasti kecuali mati....

Baby's head is down..

Today went for antenatal visit.. Alhamdulillah everything is well.. Heard baby's heartbeat through doppler (in UK they only scan u for 12th and 22nd week of pregnancy).. bump is growing fine.. but the news of the day for me is the baby's head is down.. MasyaAllah.. masuk 35 weeks dah, i anticipated that the head will position itself that way in 36 weeks onwards.. maknanya sekarang kena easy on the walking and climbing stairs cos surely i'll be breathless.. and harap2 dia stay that way in preparation for normal delivery..

Now i'm nervous..........

Unexpected journey

Last Saturday, I suddenly discovered that I had to have a very important document before i can send them into a public service department. I have been working late the previous night so when i stumble upon this i called my friend Khairizan aka Izan Boy who was in London at the time to pass it to my hubby in M'sia when she goes back the following day.

My plan was to go to London by train, stop at Richmond then take a tube to Hammersmith and bus to Marble Arch (supposed to meet her at Primark).. then somehow, bila sampai kt Richmond, district line was closed for weekend overhaul so i waited for another train to go to Waterloo.. bila sampai, mula2 ingat nak ambik cab, then kat sana, discovered there's a bus to Hammersmith so went on that.. oh god, what a long way to go dgn jam lagi and Aqil fell asleep by then.. in the middle of my journey, Izan said they're off to Edgware Road so masa tu dah rasa tak larat tahap max, ingatkan i just go to her apt in Vauxhalland drop off the documents jelah.. but Allah has a way off making a light in every grey cloud.. tgh2 bus ride, i saw Fulham Broadway station.. checked it out and it goes to Edgware Road, so berhenti the next stop and walked to the station. Alhamdulillah there was lift so senang nak turun but i know Edgware Rd takde that facility (i dont understand why TfL tak nak buat lifts for all their stations).. so mmg berdoa je sepanjang jalan.. when i got there, tangganya tinggi tp rezeki one of the workers was heading downstairs so together we lifted Aqil's pushchair naik stairs.. penat sangat tp Alhamdulillah baby tak ragam..

sampai sana met Izan kat Restaurant Melur.. the 1st things she said to me was "you bawak Aqil, i didn't know.. i thought you came here by yourself".. "you're so strong.. you have my respect".. masa tu rasa nak menitik je air mata.. tak tahulah kenapa.. it's so hard to cry these days but there was something in the warmth of her voice that just touched me..

after lunch (Izan belanja) Aqil and I tagged along Izan and her inlaws for shopping.. they went to Harrods.. dulu i went with my hubby but I didn't like it very much sbb it was crowded and expensive.. but this time I loved it.. tgh sale but being a student, you're on a budget so I just bought 3 items, a Harrods mug, baby carrier bag and a nice bag for me. Izan's MIL and SIL, Zaida was really helpful.. Diaorg la yg tolong jagakan Aqil when i look for stuff.. I was so grateful.. what turned out to be a disastrous journey in the beginning ended up being a nice day..

then we took a cab to Izan's lovely apartment. Tumpang solat n rehat kejap.. then Izan and Zaida had to go for another spot of shopping so she asked me to wait till she comes back.. in the meantime, Aqil and Adriana (who is sooo cute) were enjoying themselves lari2 kt apt tu.. and bila they got back, it was already late so they asked me to stay for the nite.. Segan i told her but she said "don't worry about it, i know what it's like to be pregnant, you need all the attention".. Izan, only Allah can balas everything.. thank you so much..

so the next day as they head to the airport, we head back to Surrey.. i remember thinking it's one of the happy days of my life here.. like my friend once said to me, in every struggle, adalah bahagian kita yang Allah nak bagi..

Update on PhD

Dear Nur

This is to confirm that you have now fulfilled the requirements for MPhil Registration. I have attached a copy of your assessors’ comments for your information and you may wish to take their comments into account when preparing your upgrade report for transfer of registration from MPhil to PhD.

Transfer from MPhil to PhD should take place no earlier than 12 months and normally no later than 15 months after your enrolment date. This means that, according to Registry's records, you should have upgraded to the degree of PhD by 18 April 2010.

Please note that the Division recommends that you upgrade 12 months after your enrolment date.

I have attached information that might prove useful when you are upgrading from MPhil to PhD.



- Alhamdulillah :D -

Good News!

For the past few weeks, I have been worried sick about my passport and birth cert. I sent the 2 important documents to UK border agency but instead of sending it to Nationality Centre, i sent it to department for british citizenship... same place but different postcode. I called tp line bz.. i emailed but they can't divulge that information online... Allah saja yang tahu my sleepless nights thinking mcm mana, bila nak dpt balik, sampai ke docs tu..

And alhamdulillah, 1 month after my postage date, I came home to find a letter from the border agency with my certificate of entitlement to right of abode. I was so happy and bersyukur beyond words. RoA basically means I can enter UK without visa or immigration control, do not need permission to leave and may work and live here without restrictions plus have some privilage of that of British citizens.

And from the letter I got, with RoA when returning to UK you can also enter as 'British/EU passport'.. I find that to be cool as the lines for Brit passport is usually shorter than that of foreign passport..


On another note, my foetus is now 32 weeks this Sunday.. MasyaAllah.. kejap je rasa.. as I nervously await the birth of my baby, I would like to thank Allah for making this journey of that I can sabar and face upon. I've grown stronger and more mature from this experience.. Yes, God knows what we are capable of and to tell you the truth, I never thought I am capable of this. Everybody kept saying "I don't know how you do it" and "I could never do what you're doing".. 'you're pregnant and doing PhD with a child here and hubby in M'sia'.. :) baik my frens or frens of my BIL and family.

Yes i do struggle, especially now i'm entering my 3rd trimester, my cramps esp my legs are getting more frequent.. malam2 i cannot sleep and i wake in the middle of the nite leg cramp and urut sorang2.. I walk a lot.. from this house to the train station, and from Richmond i change to tube station and from there I walk to campus.. it's a 1 1/2 hour journey to go to campus and when i get home I am soooo exhausted. And Yes, I do feel emotional and hormonal and all those things that pregnant women experience..

I'm only human...

But I face it.. and i dont normally show it, my difficulty, my emotions.. i've never regreted doing this or being here.. I know this is the best for me.. prior to this with istikharah and solat hajat and a lot of muhasabah diri, i deal with it as it comes..

i love it when Ross said to Rachel "of course you're unreasonable but you're allowed to be.. cos you're carrying a child".. granted it's TV but I guess itu sebab juga utk ibu mengandung Allah bagi bnyk kelebihan like doa makbul, leniency utk puasa, bnyk pahala, salah satu mati syahid and so on because clearly, this is a difficult and emotional journey.

... but I would not change it for the world..

Aqil's New Slide

In my last post, I mentioned how much Aqil loved the park especially playing with swings and slides. And because of my condition, I can't bring him to the park everyday so if you can't do something, find alternative..

Argos was having a few price cuts and there was GBP5 off a junior slide. Dulu nak beli tp rasa mcm mahal, check dekat e-bay, bid tapi kalah and the price of bid was quite high. So bila ada price slash, minta Abg Yoh drive me to Staines with Aqil and we bought a slide..

Mula2 Aqil was crying, yelah, dia jarang dpt keluar, bila dapat happy sangat sampai lari sana lari sini, tgk2 pergi kejap je utk ambik slide.. Mengamuk la dia.. so lama lepas tu, kami pun assemble the slide and bila dia dah calm down, he went on it..

It was so worth the effort and money..








Being a mum, you need to be creative, so before Aqil gets bored, I got a bit innovative and turned Abg Dy's unused car boot container into a water slide.. mula2 Nat tgk je, lps tu dia pun nak join.. from wearing panty lepas tu ikut Aqil, birthday suit jelah nampaknya.. gambar yg plg tak expose so that dua2 boleh tutup aib sikit.. hehehe..









Mmmm.. I wonder what's our next activity will be.. already got the supplies and kit so watch this space guys :p

First BBQ

Last Saturday Fadhil's wife, Kak Mas came here to visit her hubby so a BBQ was arranged. It's our (Aqil n I) first BBQ here and we just loved it. Teringat zaman2 kecik dulu sll buat BBQ kt our backyard..







Seronok Aqil mkn chicken.. lovely sunny day as well.. K Bib masak laksa Penang, yg lain bw potluck nasi goreng, mihun, roti jala, agar2.. yumm...

Weekend for Aqil

In my last post, I wrote on how I wanted to take Aqil out for an outing. So I called up my longtime friend, Hafizah who's in Notts doing her PhD and told her I wanted to visit. She was more than happy to receive me but in the end, to cut the story short, ticket habis so we ended up at Kareem's instead.

Kareem invited us to go to Westfield with him where besides shopping we brought the kids to play area..suka sangat si Aqil tu.. and then bought lunch and had a picnic at Shepherd's Bush Park.. where Aqil played with slides and swings...

I was so happy Aqil was having fun..

My usual Saturday

Saturday can only mean 1 thing.. laundry day.. usually I will go to campus abt 3-4x a week, and the extra day ddk rumah buat kerja, but i usually end up doing laundry.. tapi if i'm bz like these past few weeks, saturday and sunday is the days i pull my weight through and do my laundry. And because i personally HANDWASH my clothes and Aqil's clothes (even including my bed quilt cover etc), i like to do it in stages.. nak2 dgn perut yg makin besar, letih.. and Aqil yg semakin bijak ragamnya.. hehehe...

Tapi these 2 days, i had a help from the little one. Pagi2 akan mandikan Aqil kt sink bathroom while i sink in and do the laundry at the bath tub.. Aqil pun sibuk nak tolong, so i let him do the transfer of baju into baldi.. itu mmg kerja dia.. tapi this week lain sikit.. lepas dah handwash and letak softener semua, i will angkut the 3 basin turun bawah utk sidai. Aqil pun nak sidai jugak.. This is him in action..










And after a hard day's work..





that's 2 days worth of laundry.. pretty tired for both of us.. esok ingat nak bawak Aqil jalan2.. sian dia, ddk rumah je.. selalu kalau keluar pun bwk pergi kedai je.. yelah, Ummi dia pun bukannya dpt jln2, either beli groceries or pg campus.. so ingat nak bagi dia have fun sikit.. toodles everyone..

Honourable Guests from M'sia

Late thursday evening, dah nak masuk mlm pun, i received an email from my supervisor and also HOD, Prof Majeed. As below..

Visit of the Honourable Minister of Health Malaysia

Dear Prof. Rawaf,

It was indeed a pleasure to be able to speak to your earlier.

As promised, please find attached list below of the delegation who will be attending tomorrow’s briefing:

1. The Honourable Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai

Minister of Health

2. Datin Sri Lee Sun Loo (attendance tbc)

Spouse to the Minister of Health

3. Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Ismail Merican

Director General of Health

Imagine my shock when i received the email saying the MOH and DG are coming to my dept for a briefing. Prof Salman Rawaf is the Head of the WHO collaboration centre that is based in Imperial. Apparently, several universities bid for this, but Imperial won it so Prof Rawaf, is in Imperial College now.

So, when I arrived that morning, my friend Malar (another PhD student)and myself, the only 2 Malaysians at the dept were so nervous. 3pm the time it was, and Khairul Gadafi, the political secretary came 1st. After that, we went downstairs and greeted the Minister and DG that arrived with their car.

Prof Salman Rawaf gave a very, very good presentation on NHS. Some of the stuff were new to me and basically it's what M'sia can learn from UK's healthcare system. At one point Datuk Seri pointed at me and said "you, what you are witnessing today is history in the making. We are about to change the system in M'sia and you are part of the moment".. :)

Between the briefing we had tea break. Tan Sri was asking me where am i attached, what's my background and my PhD. I told him i'm doing diabetes and behaviour and he was v excited. He said the Ministry could do with people like you.. we are starting up a centre for diabetes and behaviour.. i said ok and smiled.. I introduced him to my supervisor, Prof Majeed. He said diabetes is costing a lot, and nothing much is changing.. and then they had a chat. Tan Sri also mentioned it to the Minister, so at that moment I was v happy because i felt a had a sense of self, that i had potential to be someone who can contribute to the society at large.

After briefing, we brought them to Charing Cross Hospital and also the walk-in-centre. The M'sian delegates gave us presents (mine was a batik selendang) and we also took pictures with them. They left at 6pm and was very, very impressed and happy with the whole mmeting. Tan Sri Ismail and Datuk Seri Liow pesan "belajar baik2, balik nanti contribute to the country ok".. hehehehehe...

They're in here till Saturday and then off to Geneva for the convention..

Hadi dah kahwin..

Congratulations to my bro Hadi yg telah selamat melangsungkan pernikahan kt Melbourne, Australia.. So sad i cannot be there to witness my own brother kahwin, tapi nak travel ke Aussie with my big belly and carry an infant in the same seat for 14 hours, is just not possible..

For those of you yang tak kenal sgt my family, Hadi is the brother immediately after me, we're just 1 year and 24 days apart. Hadilah yg introduce me to football, cricket, rugby etc and selalu teman dia tgk bola, so tht sparked my interest. We both love Man U (who doesn't) since the Bryan Robson days (well, not his early days but dkt2 nak retire).. And then the Eric Cantona era sampailah ke C.Ronaldo time that is today.

To Hadi and Nu, congratulations on ur wedding and semoga banyak2 bersabar with each other. Hopefully i can come to the reception in M'sia next year..

Opah's Trip to UK

Urwah's homemade kofta just for us.. mmg boleh gemuk kalau ddk rumah kareem.


Aqil in Opah's favourite baju.. beli kat debenhams sale


Urwah's dinner.. loved the salmon..


All of us enjoying our ice-cream, belanja by urs truly :)


Opah at Leyton ice-cream truck. Sedapnya ice-cream.


Kareem and family during their visit to Egham. Sebelum tu stopover kt Ascot pergi carboot.


Aqil everytime i go to the toilet, he'll be waiting patiently outside. Yang ni sambil tunggu sambil main bola..


Aqil takut sikit sbb this one gerak.


Aqil just loved the trolley car.. lama tunggu baru dia nak keluar


Aqil and Opah at Slough. Tunggu bus naik pergi sana.. Aqil suka sgt naik kereta. Alhamdulillah baik tak meragam sepanjan kami shopping..



My beloved mom is back in Malaysia, but I thought u guys might like the selection of pictures of her visit here. Come back again Mama/Opah Aqil, we love you..