4Es in the UK

The explorers at Trafalgar Square

Alhamdullillah, after being 11 years away, and after a year of planning, researching, saving and swearing, we finally made it to the UK, specifically London and some spots in the south and west of England. Our rendezvous was on Monday 23rd June, in London where Baba, Mama and Fyan came in via Dubai, while the 4Es traveled from Khartoum via Doha. Our trip lasted about 10 days and I'm glad that everything went to plan (except some last minute changes).

I know Ckn will be doing a day by day breakdown (like with previous 4Es outings), hence I'll just do a simple post to list down the experiences and things that we enjoyed (and a few that we didn't!)

Meeting a Beefeater who served in Malaya, at the Tower of London

What we enjoyed on our trip...

1. Buying an off-peak travel card and taking the London Tube
   
2. Crossing over to the Eastern hemisphere at the Greenwich meridian line
   
3. Finding (and buying) seven Ben 10 action figures - at Woolworth's and Argos
   
4. Experiencing Stonehenge
5. Revisiting 10 Upton Close, Henley-on-Thames, where I lived 27 years ago
   
6. Doner kebabs (got to love those unhealthy meat products!)
7. Strolling through Hyde Park
8. Enjoying a street performer's breathtaking show at Covent Garden
   
9. Taking pictures - with a total of 4 photographers and thousands of snaps
10. Meeting Penn Steynor - my mother's English friend since the 60s
    
11. Learning the history and tales of wharfs and canals on the River Thames
    
12. Getting a sun tan - in England
13. Shopping
14. Finding the Ckn Pfordtens' family coat of arms
15. Catching a west end show - the Lion King
16. Having an interesting conversation with a London cabbie - on Malaya, the Empire, and God
17. Picnicing on the grounds near Templeman Library, at the University of Kent
18. Witnessing Ehsan giving his mom a buttercup flower
19. The weather; it was perfect throughout the trip despite the forecasts
20. Testing the hot springs at the Roman Baths
21. Being treated courteously, wherever we went

Ezal & Ckn posing at the Tower Bridge ...auuw!

What we did not like...

1. 6 hr transit times at Doha Airport, each way (thankfully, we all slept have way thru it on the way back)
2. Early shop closing times
3. Getting tired from all the walking
4. The Security, The crowds in Heathrow Airport
   
5. Changes at the immigration hall in Khartoum upon our return - really tested our patience and nearly spoilt the whole holiday
   

Thanks go out to

1. My family for being such sporting travel buddies and were so helpful with us and the kids
   
2. My friends Shahrin Imran, Raja Zurina, and Azam Abdullah(who all live in the UK) and Salina (who still thinks of the UK), who all helped fill in the blanks
3. and last but certainly not the least, My Ckn - the inspiration, the support and for being such a good packer!!

4Es at Stonehenge - it was my first visit too

Henley-on-Thames - the annual Henley regatta would have started a day after we left for home...

Though it was hard for us all to say goodbye to London, I felt happy knowing that I've finally fulfilled my plans to bring my wife and children to show them the country where I spent 10 years of my life. Who knows; maybe next time, I need not wait another decade to return?

Firefox 3 downloaded!

Hopefully it was worth it... I've been using Firefox as my main internet explorer (pun intended) for the longest time - just because. We'll have to wait a week for the record to be ratified by Guinness World Records (it's reported that there were 8 million downloads during that 24hrs period)

Baking Therapy

Ezal's frankfurter rolls

I told Ckn yesterday that I wanted to bake frankfurter rolls...and she gave me the usual 'we'll see...' look. Can't blame her coz I've always shared my intention of cooking this or that, but never got around it! so to surprise her, I really did my best this time.

I woke up early (well 8.30 on a Friday is early) and set about my task. I got the recipe while browsing to a website called Visual Recipes. We can't get these rolls in Sudan, and I really missed having them. I was determined to do this all by myself - and to my surprise, I did. When Ckn later joined me, she did point out that my yeast was expired and that the risk of that was that the dough would not rise...fortunately it did! I managed to yield 14 pieces (only had 7 franks in the fridge). Even Ehsan got in the act and helped roll out the dough - well, at least in his own special way!

Well, I finished the last roll at dinner; we had plenty of samplers today - Ckn, Devin (my colleague who was over to discuss her wedding montage), Nazri and Mahadir (our neighbours who joined us for lunch). They were polite enough to say that the rolls were good.

hehe and I agreed!

Sea Monstar!

Look Mama - No Baba!

Ehsan's 3 years old yesterday - but more on that later.... Anyway, just to register that Ehsan is now a good swimmer; I can just leave him in the big pool now, and he'll merrily swim left and right, and float backwards to expose his feet. Not a great swimmer just yet (my definition of great is no Floaties and he can canon ball into the pool) but he is definitely getting there. We try to go for a dip every Friday evening or Saturday morning, and the weather currently is just nice for it - but we wouldn't last more than an hour in the hot sun. Pity Ckn who is the standby 'lifeguard'; she has to survive the heat blast!

The other good news is that Erica is also an avid swimmer - she can't do a lot, but she enjoys the water and splashes around, much to Ehsan's delight. We also have video proof of the elusive Ehsan and Ezalman swimming duo, courtesy of Ckn and her Pana: