Electronic cigarette

I have been a smoker for many years and I considered myself pretty much addictive. Honestly I have never thought of quitting and the only time I would automatically quit smoking was when I was pregnant. That was good in many ways as I never have to suffer myself so much if I have to quit smoking during my pregnancy. I just hated the smell of cigarette by then and I stop smoking. My last child, I quit throughout the whole nine month including 7 months after birth as I was breast feeding. I pick it up so easily again as the craving of a cigarette start to come back just as everything is back to normal.

When we moved to London, a friend of us asked me if I have ever tried e cigarette. Honestly at that time, I have not even heard of a e cigarette. Then we went to stores here and I realised that e cigarette are everywhere selling on the counter like normal cigarette. I bought one starter pack including a USB charger for the battery. I was excited to try it to see if it does taste good, I probably will stop smoking if it helps. It was actually ok even though it was not 100% to the taste of a normal cigarette. The e cig lasted 2 weeks and I need to change the filter. I couldn't find the filter of the same brand in all shops around and I continue smoking normal cigarette again.

Few weeks later my husband bought for me another brand. I don't really kind of like it so much. I started goggling around for e cig with different taste and brand.

One day while we were walking in a mall near home, we came to a counter who sells different types of e cig and the good thing is that we could try all the different strength and taste. I picked out one and since then I have not only quit smoking but I was cutting down more than 50% of my e cig too. Now I only smoke the e cigarette socially when we drink and hardly a single puff during the day. It does help me to quit without suffering or craving.

Obviously it is so much cheaper than smoking the real cigarette plus no more tar, no more yellow stain teeth and no more smell.

I know in some country e cigarette are banned and airline have also started to banned smoking e cig on board the plane. I have read some of their reason but still for me if this e cig can help a person to reduce smoking and probably some would quit smoking too, why ban it? Plus we know e cig does not harm second hand smoke to people around you. In London most of the restaurant allows people to smoke e cigarette and it feels much nicer to be sitting indoor rather than running in and out of the door each time you want to smoke.

This was my first e cig which I bought and tried until the filter ran out. It may look like a real cigarette but it's hard like a stone.

This was a much classier version and actually taste much better than my first buy.

You can start browse the site to the e cigarette at  Socialites E cigarette 

Easy and Good Breakfast

Ingredients 

Any kind of  round thin slices of your choice of salami (chicken, turkey, beef, pork etc)

Egg (Beat the egg)

Bacon (Chopped into smaller pieces)

Cheddar cheese (tear them into small pieces)

Salt to taste

chop spring onion

Place one thin slice of your salami choices in the baking cup 

Pour in beaten egg, chopped bacon, sprinkle of spring onion and cheddar cheese

Bake in the oven at 180deg between 5 to 10 mins.

The cheese will melt and the egg will rise..Ready to serve warm.

My boy

Gabriel is either on his phone, his samsung pad or xbox. He never wants to follow us out anymore. He's spending more time in his room than being with us. Sometime my husband teases him if he actually still living in this house as we hardly see him. This shows my son are getting older and I miss him when he's actually a baby.

Best hottest chili paste recipes (Sambal)

Did my invention of the best tastiest sambal. 

Habanero, Thai gren chilli, fresh red chilli and a large red chilli which i found it here in the supermarket which actually not hot at all but taste exactly like a paprika. 

Grind those chillies with

Onion

Garlic

Ginger

Shrimp paste

Dried shrimp

Lime juice

Fresh corainder 

Sugar n salt to taste

Sambal Fish

Mackerel Sambal fish. 

This dish is perfect to any kind of white meat fish as shown above. My best friend Suzanne since childhood have asked me to sent her this recipes as she enjoyed eating them when she came to visit me once in Stockholm. Each time we talked about food she would mentioned this particular fish that she enjoyed eating when she was in Sweden. 

It is so very simple to make and yet tasty.

Ingredients.

4 to 5 slices of fish.

1tbs tumeric powder

1tbs corainder powder

1tbs cumin powder

6 fresh red chillies

3 shallot

2 big onion

4 garlic

4 fresh tomato.

Salt and Sugar

Marinate the fish with salt, tumeric, corainder and cumin powder. Heat pan with oil and fry them till golden crispy. Once it's done take them out of the pan and set them aside.

Grind the fresh red chillies, garlic and shallot.

Cut the onion into rings.

Tomatoes cut into wedges.

Use only a little oil from frying the fish and add in the grinded items and stir fried for 2 mins.

Add in tomatoes and wait till it soften before adding in cuts of onion rings salt and sugar to taste.

Serves with rice.

Update of this week; Wine, shoes, walk and stir fried seafood noodle......

 I pampered myself with my favourite 

Stir fried seafood noodle. Really nice!!

Ingredients

Heat up hot oil and throw in the chop onion and garlic, stirring it for few mins till it turn slightly brown. 

Then you can add in chop tomatoes. I stir in for a while and add in water and a chicken stock.

 Followed by few pieces of prawns and slice cuttle fish.

Since I like it spicy, I sprinkle in extra hot chilli powder at this stage.

Pour in the yellow noodle, mixed well (add in more water if it's too dry as I like mine little wet but not soup)

Sprinkle in chop coriander and without doubt I never miss to add my small green whole chilli :)

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I tried updating my blog more frequently whenever I can find the time to squeeze in. Weather it find you interesting or it may not, doesn't really matter. I kept this blog for myself and have been having it for more than 10 years. Looking back at some of my old posting when all of my children were so much younger, It is really worth more than million to have this kept. Now I don't get to see my two grown up daughters as often as I want to as they have grown up to be a lady and living their own live. I have brought them up well to be a nice person and hopefully they will have a good easy life with a good family surrounded by wealth, health and happiness for always. Though we talk almost everyday with the latest technology which cost nothing, so how can you give excuses for not communicate with each other when its free. 

This is where Peter and I went to yesterday to have a glass of white wine at a British pub near our home. I was out for a meeting in town and on my way back, I decided to stop to rest my feet. I texted peter to let him know that I will be stopping at the pub to have a glass of wine and he offered to come and meet me there.

 This is the shoe that I seriously fall in love the first time I saw it at the River Island shop here in London. It's beautiful but it is so damn uncomfortable. My feet hurts like hell. I used it once and it was so painful and I so I thought a new shoes need to be season up before it gets comfortable, so I bear with it. Let my feet rest for a week before I had them on again. Yesterday I practically limping and walk so slow that I swear turtle can beat me faster in a race. So probably I give up on this shoes. It is nice and not cheap at all but probably not for my feet.

 Passing by this beautiful trees and since with my speed, I decided to stop and pretend to take a photo to rest my hurtful feet.

 Walking 100 meter home can be a real torture if your feet hurt. haha here I am following my track home

Yes..yes...yes. 

Last but not least my husband Peter and I managed to start going back to the gym again. 

Mamma Mia

The best movie ever!

Not sure how many times I have seen this movie but I did watch it again in itv3 tonight. Last week my Swedish friend was here and we were actually planning to see Mamma Mia musical theatre here in London. We went to few ticketing booth and we asked for the tickets but unfortunately we did not have much time. 

This is the kind of movie I could watch all life. The music is forever classic and I wish I was there seeing them shooting this movie as it must be so fun. 

I laugh, I cried and I wish I was there!!

Sunday

So what do you normally do on Sunday? Most people relax and take it easy or probably do their weekly food shopping or take a nice long walk or go to the park or seat by the beach.... Etc

My sunday can be different from each week. Somedays I just lay down n read for hrs or I can also start cleaning the whole house including dusting and scrubbing of toilets or probably take a walk with my husband and children. The past few weeks I have felt so weak, not sure why but felt very weak and sleepy. Even though we still do our daily routine by waking up and started of with a breakfast, we just felt dead by end of the day. 

Weather has been up and down. Sunny one min and cloudy the next. Amazingly it was hailing yesterday. We were walking home from our small walk and it started to hail. Those icy stone can be big sometimes and when it smack your head or ur skin hard, you feel it ouch.... The good thing we don't get wet with hail. 

The sun breaking through the cloud just  mins after it stop hailing. 

No lazing in front of TV today since our TV broke down yesterday. It just doesn't start and it's 2 months old. 

It so happen that it was a loud thunder just second before we got home yesterday and we thought it might have been the thunder who might have strike through the building antenna. Anyway its a new 2 months old with one year guarantee. 

Planning to start going to the gym once again next week. I have been so lazy and have slacken down the past 10 weeks ever since I started my course in the Uppsala University. I took a distance course in the Uppsala University and we have to submit and do our presentation of our project every Tuesday online. I felt stressful as I have to finish them up every week. So that's partly the reason I have not been to the gym. Now I finishes my last project and the course will be done next week, I have decided to start going back to the gym. We have a lovely full equips gym with 25 meter swimming pool, etc right here in our compound for the resident of Harrods Living, why still I am lazy to walk out the door and do it. 

Will keep update now of my progress in picking up back my exercise.

Weekend dinner

Saturday relaxing day. We going to be watching The Voice. Sit in front of the Tv and have our dinner.

French bread with salami, spread little mayonaise and sprinkle lots of cheddar then cheese goes right into the Oven for 10 to 15 mins.

This is great crispy prawns. Fried them and serves hot.

Can you imagine how cheap this is. £1 duck spring rolls. 

Crispy breaded chicken wings fry them and a Duck skewers in the oven 15 mins.

Shocking news revealed about Malaysia Airline MH370

I am not sure as to how many of you out there are following this missing flight MH370. I did read few times a day, did several research on different sites.

Have you follow the flightradar24? It has shown that someone has change the course, altitude of the plane on the radar. The first place where the plane lost its communication, it went down to 0 altitude which mean it has crashes to the ground of that area. Then someone change the radar back as it climb immediately to more than 40 thousand feet. There is too much scandal that has been going on behind this. The ill fated of all the crew members and passengers onboard are being played around by some bad people who only think of covering themselves. The one suffering now are the one who's alive, their love ones. 

See this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JpbZZKqxy0
continue explain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNZtz-HVy6c

14 years Wedding Anniversary

A heart shape pendant was a lovely present which my husband gave to me on our 14 years of our wedding anniversary. He is cute in many way and the reason I said that is because he is like many other man who never actually remember special dates like we women do. Our wedding anniversary falls on 18th March. I was just waiting for the whole of last week and the week itself on the date of our anniversary to see if he remember or decided to do something.... but nothing. On the day itself, he woke up in the morning like usual, showered, did a cup of warm coffee for me, and sent our son to school. I smile to myself when he left the house as I know he did forgotten. Then I sent him a text message wishing him a Happy Anniversary. 

Usually he is back again by maximum 30mins after sending our son to school but this time he didn't. 

An hr later I text to ask where he was and my lovely husband replied that he is out shopping to find me a gift. Oh he is so sweet but I know he is not so good in shopping and it is early, way too early and the shops are still close so I asked him to come back home instead. I suggested we can have a nice dinner and a good wine tonight instead.

He came home shortly after with a nice wrap packet with a nice heart shape pendant necklace. He is a very nice, caring, loving husband and father. 14 years is a long time to be living with a person but I know we will be living together in many more years to come and surely will grow old together.

Polish Hotdog

Walking in the market street of London and we came across Polish food stand grilling hotdog.

They have a much nicer hotdog compared to the English ones. 

We didnt buy any as we just had our lunch before this but we bought hotdog at the Polish shop here in Shepherd Bush and they were really good.

Friends Visiting London

First of all ever since we left Sweden November 2013, my son Gabriel have not met his two best friends William and Gustav since then. They have known each other since they were 6 years old. 

Friday 14th March both William and Gustav mom brought them to London to visit us. The boys were so happy to meet again. Gabriel claimed that it was the best time he had in his life. They boys slept over at our place and they played played xbox when we get home. After breakfast for the past two days, they changed and went for a swim.

 We had mom and our boys day out on Friday. Lucky with the weather, it has been a nice summer weekend. We took a walk in the city, showed the boys to big ben, trafalgar square and few other places which they found it to be very interesting. 

 Gustav and William were pretty tired that day, Since they left home at 3 in the morning and even though they have been sleeping on board the plane and busses, they were still weak and tired. So we decided that we sent the boys home, ordered pizza for them and we adult went out to have our dinner at the Indian restaurants.

This is one of the biggest toy store called Hamleys with 5 levels in Oxford street. Which is obviously they can spent many hours in there trying all the toys.

 In the evening, we went to the Chinatown in Soho for our dinner. It was a lovely weekend but I was totally dead weak on Sunday evening after they left. I rest on bed and slept early that night.

Missing airline MH370

I have been following the news about the missing Malaysia airline MH370. Many things does not make sense to me. I read many different article and even went through the link of Flight Radar 24 and Airliners which my husband have showed me. Since my husband is also a pilot, he could not believe what had happened and without being trace. Flight Radar 24 link shows all flight in the air and their flight movement.

How can a big aircraft fly over so many different countries as they have mentioned in different news without being spotted on the radar? There have been so many different theories and speculation of what may have happened. After what happened to 9/11 all the air defence around the world have been very alert for hijacked airliners.

I sincerely felt bad for the hundreds of innocent life on the plane. It is such a fate to whatever had happened to them. Their family and friends are praying for their love ones.

Study, Fun and eat

Decided to take a break from my study and update a little in my blog. This week is pretty much the same routine, we wake up early and start our daily normal procedure. I stay on my desk almost whole day trying to finish up my project in school. Sometime listening to music while you studying makes you relax. During the night we normally had dinner together and later we sat and watch tv. Lately we have been watching lots of food or cooking program. Its really interesting to see that this mobile van fast food business are really climbing up fast. Some are making so much money and the demand from their customers are just amazing. 

I missed out this photo of my little boy. I wish I could remember where we took this.It is difficult to remember all the name of places here in London that we have been so far. 

This is one simple dish which I did for my son for breakfast over the weekend. Egg, salami, chopped bacon, spring onion. baked in the cup cake container into the oven at 180 degree  between for 10 mins or until the egg rises. Gabriel loves it.

London most rudest bus driver

I am a traveller who have been travelling to most different parts of the world but I swear I have never came across the most rudest bus driver in my life. I came back home and google to see where I could file my complain to and found out an interesting article from the BBC news (article read to believe it yourself ) that the complain on London bus driver have increased to 66,000!! I was shocked to read the comment, complain people posted.
First of all, I have been here only 4 months. When we first came to London, we went to the ticketing office in one of the tube station to get our weekly card so we could go around freely with their public transport. We asked for 2 adult and 1 child. Later he confirmed with us that our boy will be travelling for free since he is 10 and as long as he is accompanied by an adult. So we thought, great!! than it will be only two adult oyster tickets that we need to get.
One sunny day after our trip to one of the market, we hop into a bus 283 from Shepherd Bush Market at around 17:10. He pointed rudely at my son and asked me to show his oyster card. We being new here and since we were once informed by the London ticketing office that our son would be travelling for free until he reaches the age of 11. I politely answer that he is only 10. This damn driver shooked his head and asked me to pay. I said again but he is only 10 and I am not lying which he is 10. Which parents go around and carry a passport of a 10 year old child. I didn't. So I thought ok if he dont trust I can pay as it is ok even though I was frustrated. My husband came forward and ask me what happened. I told him and he asked the bus driver why does his son needs to pay as he is only 10. The reply from the bus driver was so damn rude that he insisted we pay or get off from his bus. There goes my husband head, he shouted at the bus driver that his son is only 10. The bus driver chases us off the bus and he on a very loud siren. He says that my husband is harassing him!!! Damn, who is harassing who? My husband said I have a copy of his passport in my phone and he can prove to him but the bus driver did not want to see and insisted that we get off from "HIS BUS"!!

My husband took a snap of the driver photo before we left. As we were walking along the side pathment, the driver were driving slowly beside us pointing his finger and was reacting as if he was putting on a challenge. How stupid can a person be? You are a bus driver, don't act as if you own the bus even. We the customers pays your salary to get this going.
Later at the traffic light he stop and when it turn green we were crossing and walking, I was shocked that he tries to retaliate by rolling his bus slowly toward us who is walking crossing the road. In my heart, try to hit me and I swear where you will end up.

I seens few cases of such rude driver here which happened to others while I was on the bus too. I felt that the driver here were given too much authority and they felt they can chase even a paid passengers off  if he feels he does not like us.

After this incident, my husband and I try to avoid taking the bus. we thought busses would be nice to travel in rather than tube as we can sit and look outside but not after this incident of meeting the most rudest bus driver.

I really hope that the Transport for London would seriously take a look into cases of such driver if they do received such a big increase of complain about their driver. I know driving a bus is not an easy job, but I know too that there are not many easy job in so many aspect and areas and that does not mean you can start to be rude to people because your job was not an easy job. I have been all along into the service industry and I have always smile and be polite even at some days where it can be very tiring for me.

For other passengers who faces the same situation like I did, please do drop me a line and if the number increases here, we could gather together and come forward to stop this.

Different article to read:
Complain about bus driver
Transport for London releases complaint
Refused access: fighting for the right to travel by buses

London 2013 / 2014

Its been months since I last updated my blog again. I know the answer is that I have been busy and I am indeed. I have also started my distance online course in the Uppsala University and with all the deadline we had to submit our work is really taking all of my time studying.
Beside my study we do feel very comfortable here in our new home. In the beginning we went to gym and swim a lot as at that moment I have not started my course and my daughters were also here as came to visit us here and they stayed with us over for the xmas and new year. Now that my courses have started, I have no time to go to swim and gym but I will be able to do it again in a couple of weeks.

The best thing about London is that there are so many places to see whenever we are free. Every single town has uniquely different market. At some market you can find really good food with several different kinds of moving vehicle. Above is a photo of a typical market in London. The Camden market. It has a lot of shops and plenty of food international stalls.
There are several market which sells meat, vegetables and plenty of different spices. For example the Shepherd Bush Market, they have plenty of fresh vegetables, different butcher stalls, and provision shops which has several different collection of international spices.I love going to this market to get my vegetables as they are ridiculously cheap and plenty of variety. One big huge bowl of fresh small thai chilli cost only 1 british pound. Everything in the bowl that display on the stand will cost only 1 pound.

 Chinatown in downtown Soho. Never go to downtown during Christmas. Its like back to back against each other and unbelievable crowded. This area is basically roam by lots of tourist which we never usually go there anymore as we have found out lots of different nice places to go to instead.

Thats the Harrods Village where we living now and its the view on the other side of the river. We lived along the river thames in Barnes. There are quiet a number of Swedes living in that area due to the fact there is a Swedish school in that part of London. Next apartment building to us there is a Swedish family with 2 young kids who just moved in sometime in January. Their kids are also in the Swedish school. Gabriel is happy with his new international Swedish school as the friends are nice, concern, friendly, teachers are great, food in school are excellent. He love every moment of his time in school which is such a relieved to hear. 

This is the facilities we had in Harrods Village for the resident. Gabriel loves to play by the pool and the jacuzzi. Most day especially weekdays, the pool can be very empty as everyone are at school or work. So I love going to the gym or sit at the jacuzzi after my lunch.

My day at the pool and Jacuzzi.

These are taken when my daughter were here visiting us.  Everyone did spent many hrs at the pool and gym if we are not out sightseeing.














It feels like its never ending as we have been here since November and every weekend. we would find a new place to go to.

Krille, Veldiner and Gabriel travelling in the London tube.

 After a long day out walking, we decided to stop in one of the Asian restaurant in Soho for dinner.
The quality of the food here is good. I was very surprised that they serves my favourite seafood hor fun.
Most of the places in europe that I went to, they never had a very same dishes where you can find in asia itself. They have something similar but never the same. This is one of the dish which was exactly the same as I had back in Asia.

These is a nice photo of my children together with Vel's boyfriend Krille. There are so many restaurant to choose from and most of them are fully booked at that moment. We manage to find one table for 6 in this restaurant. Their menu was indeed perfect.

One place for sure every tourist would not miss out is the Queens palace. There are plenty of people going around the palace and taking photos. I have to bring the girls and show them around as they have never been here before.

 The big Ben is a must for all new visitors to see when they come to London. I am sure I will have to go to this place couple of time as we will be having lots of friends and visitors visiting us here. It is just like when we were living in Egypt, many of our friends that came for a visit in Cairo, they would love to see the pyramid and I cannot remember how many time I have been to the pyramid. So I restrained myself from going to those places unless we have visitors.

I got to end for now and will be updating again later this month as I will be having another few visitors coming to visit us in mid March. It will be lots of fun as Gabriel will have two of his best friends here.