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..