Kacuk's Photography Workshop

Last weekend I attended my very first ever photography workshop conducted by Khairul Hazwan aka Kacuk, a well-known photographer who works with Candid Syndrome, a very famous & leading wedding photography house in Malaysia & South East Asia. We started quite early in the morning and there were about 10 participants who came from all over the UK. We gathered at Regent's Park tube station and then walked to Regent's Park for the introduction & quick presentation from Kacuk. Then followed by practical session around Regent's Park where we had the opportunity to get hands-on guidance from him.

I think the workshop was great because it was quite straight forward and held in a very casual manner. Here are some of the pictures that I took during the workshop.

This is Kacuk.

This is Fara, his wife who was also the model during the workshop.

Beautiful tulips blossoming in the park

Yeah, we also asked Kacuk to become the model..heh..

A moment to remember for me with Kacuk before leaving home after we had our lunch in Regent's Mosque.

Thanks Kacuk for sharing your knowledge & expertise!

Russell Square Gardens

This is the first time we ever came here. We encountered this beautiful garden on our way back from British Museum last weekend. The kids were really excited when we decided to spend some times here and luckily the weather was also really good, bright and sunny!

Russell Square is located in Bloomsbury in the London Borough of Camden. It can be reached easily by public transport. I think the nearest tube station is Russell Square. It's not as big as Regent's Park, Hyde Park or Kensington Gardens but it is just as perfect for a place to hang around and bring your family during the weekend. The kids surely enjoy it where they can run around chasing birds & squirrel and there's also a little water fountain which I think is the favourite spot for every kids who come here especially during the warm and sunny weather of spring.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

It's Spring Time!!!

Spring is here! We are really excited! The sun was out today so we took the opportunity to do what we always love to do with the kids, going for a picnic in a park! We are lucky because there are lots of them in London. I remember last time every week we went to a different park and this time we will do the same because it's probably gonna be our last spring here before going back to Malaysia.

Snowy Winter in London

The beautiful snowy landscape...

This is probably our last winter here in London because next year we might be going back to Malaysia for good. We are lucky to get snow again this year like when we first came here 2 years ago, it was the first time in a very long time that London had snow. This year, the snow comes again and we are loving it especially Adam. Last few weeks it was snowing but not a lot, it was like flurries, it came down and when it reached the ground, it just melted. But today the temperature is cold enough so when it reaches the ground it stays and accumulates. We got quite a few inches thick of snow around our building. We took the opportunity to go out and have fun playing in the snow.

The moment we went out, Adam already excited!

Our cute little snow angel..

My lovely girls

Adam is trying to make his own snow ball

Then when he got it done, it's time to find his victim..hehe..

This is Mia's first experience with snow even though she was born during winter time last year.

Yeah, we certainly had a "good fun" as Adam always says. It was difficult to ask Adam to go back because he didn't want to, he was crying and insisting to stay and Mia desperately needed to go home because she was freezing..hehe..But we still went up anyway while Adam was still crying. At home, he didn't want to take off his boots and snow suit, so I decided to come down again with him, just the 2 of us while Mommy and Mia stayed back. Glad that we came down because he was soooo happy playing in the snow. It was worth it to see him having such a great time. Anything for you baby =)

London's Attractions | Regent's Park |

One of the thing that we love in London is its big and green parks. There are lots of them here and the few famous ones among the tourists and even the Londoners are Hyde Park, Regents Park, Kensington Gardens, St. James Park and Holland Park. We have been to all of it and they are all lovely and have a great playground. Adam loves coming to park, it's a total freedom to him because he can run around, chasing birds and squirrel and meeting new friends in the playground. Our favourites are Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. These parks are where the exciting places like Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, Princess Diana Memorial Playground and the Round Pond located. Oh, all of these parks and playgrounds are free by the way =) except one, Serpentine Lido. Even so, it's not that expensive around GBP 4 for adult if I'm not mistaken and it's quite small and sort of exclusive. So it's perfect for an outdoor birthday party or small family gathering where the kids can enjoy playing in the wet and dry playground. However, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens are quite far from our house, about 20-30 minutes by bus.

There's another park which is relatively closer to our home, Regent's Park. Regent's Park is huge and it's about 20-30 minutes by walking. This is where London Central Mosque or Regent's Mosque located. When I'm at home on Friday, this is where I do my Friday prayers with thousands other Muslim and sometimes I do bring Adam together with me. He also likes to come here because he loves eating at the canteen. The briyanni rice and lamb curry are so delicious and Adam's favourite is the roasted chicken.

Can you spot Adam enjoying his roasted chicken tikka with chips in this picture? hehe..

There's a playground which Adam loves so much. It's always hard for us when we want to go back because Adam refuses to stop playing.

Near to the playground, there's a big lake where you can rent a paddling boat to go around. Unfortunately you have to pay to for a ride, I don't particularly remember how much but I'm sure it won't drain out your pocket just to enjoy yourself paddling in the lake while watching birds and the beautiful surroundings.

In Regent's Park, there are also a huge field which can accommodate for rugby and football fields and even for cricket.

Not that far from the huge field, there's London Zoo. We have been there twice and both we went by taking water bus from Little Venice.

Adam playing football with his MakSu.

When the weather is great, the sunset is just so lovely.

Day Trip to Greenwich

I'm sure most people would know that Greenwich is best known for its maritime history because of its location near the Thames River and also the Greenwich Prime Meridian where the zero longitude line is and Greenwich Mean Time (zero time zone). So that's pretty much it that I know of and last weekend we went there for the very first time. We went out quite early in the morning to avoid large crowd and we decided to take river cruise from Westminster to Greenwich instead of tube underground and train. Even though it takes slightly longer travelling time but we really enjoyed the view along the way accompanied by an interesting live commentary by the boat crew.

The return boat ticket is not that expensive, it was about GBP12.5 if I'm not mistaken. There's also a hop on hop off type of ticket where you can actually get down at any stations along the way like at Tower Bridge and then take the next boat to the next destination. Generally, the boat ride was smooth and comfortable, not too fast not too slow. Just nice for you to enjoy the riverside view and to take pictures of the London main attractions that the boat passed by like London Eye, London Bridge, Millenium Bridge, Tower Bridge, Big Ben etc.

When we boarded the boat the weather was quite cloudy and gloomy, a typical English weather. But then when we arrived at Greenwich we were lucky because suddenly the sun came out shinning.

We first visited the Old Royal Naval College. There's a big park right in front of this Naval College and it look so beautiful in Autumn. We spent sometimes there where Adam was busy chasing birds and squirrel.

Then we wanted to go straight to the Royal Observatory Greenwich which located on a hill right in the Greenwich Park. Along the way, we walked pass through quite a lovely scenery, aesthetic building, beautiful park and the Maritime Museum.

Went up the hill was quite a challenge for us because we were carrying 2 kids..hehe..When we were there the view was just absolutely breathtaking! Visitors actually don't have to pay anything to go inside the Royal Observatory Centre. This is where you will find the zero longitude line and there's also a small astronomy museum where you could see various telescope collections.

After spending some times there, we went down to a park at the foot hill before heading to the nearby town to have our late lunch. We went back around 4-ish pm because it's getting dark. Yup, it's dark pretty quick during winter time. The last boat leaves at 5.25 pm and we managed to catch the one before and the night view along the Thames River was just gorgeous.

Beautiful Little Venice in the Autumn

This is where we live here in London, small, calm and beautiful; perfect for our little family. We are definitely gonna miss this place when we go back to Malaysia.