Day Trip to Cambridge, UK

This is actually a long overdue entry. I have been quite busy lately, yeah who's not right? Hehe.

We went to Cambridge about 2-3 weeks ago to bring my sister in law Aishah for a day trip. It's not that far from London, approximately 1 hour journey by train from King Cross train station. For a day return ticket, it costs GBP 20 which is quite reasonable I guess.

The city centre of Cambridge.

The market right in the city centre.

A lot of handmade stuffs in this market.

A memorable family portrait in front King's College.

Someone was sulking because he didn't get something that he wanted..hehe..

Whenever people hear Cambridge, UK, they will associate it with a highly prestigious academic institution, which is the common perception. Same goes whenever you meet someone and he or she tells you that he/she is a Cambridge University graduate, your first expression is always, "wow!", this person must be really, really smart. Cambridge is actually a university town, which consists of quite a number of colleges, if I'm not mistaken about 33 colleges and the famous and top ranked ones are Trinity College, King's College and St. John College. These colleges are actually self-governing and independent. This means that if you were trying to apply to Cambridge University, you have to decide which college that you are actually interested in and your application will be handled by that particular college including all the entry interviews and examinations. They have quite stringent entry requirements especially for those 3 top colleges like Trinity, King's and St. John. Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin were among the famous students of Cambridge University.

The grand entrance of King's College, University of Cambridge.

This is the inside view of King's College.

A chapel inside King's College.

OK, enough with the history, Cambridge for me is a beautiful place to visit. It also famous with punting. Punt is actually a flat-bottomed wooden boat and designed for use in small and shallow river. Besides Cambridge, punting is also famous in Oxford. I have been to Cambridge 3 times and tried punting once. If I'm not mistaken, for a guided punting tour it costs less than GBP 15 for about 1 hour ride and there's also a student discount. There are quite a number of companies which offer punting service and the price are almost the same. Most of these guys are local people and some of them are the students of Cambridge and they know the local history very well. The whole punting journey is a great experience and very interesting one. The scenery along the river is just gorgeous.

The famous river punting in Cambridge.

On a bridge across the river where a lot of people do punting.

You can also visit the colleges especially King's, Trinity and St. John college with a small amount of fees which vary for each college. I think the experience to visit these famous colleges is totally worth with what you pay especially for those who love architecture and history.

A walk to remember...

Adam's excitement..

I think spring and summer (between April-August) are the best time to come to Cambridge because the flowers, the clear blue sky and the sunshine make it even more beautiful. Plus, day time is longer during this period of time so you will have plenty of time to spend to enjoy the beauty and history of Cambridge.

Hope you enjoy these pictures that I took during my recent visit to Cambridge. I'm afraid that these pictures do not do justice because Cambridge is actually a lot more beautiful than those pictures, you have to go there and experience it yourself =). Now I sound like someone who lives in Cambridge or maybe work for Cambridge tourism agency..hahaha..

Our Family Fun Time at Butlins Leisure Park

One very happy fan! Dream comes true to watch Dora & Diego live..heh

Dora The Explorer shows. It started at 7 and ended at 9pm. Adam was enjoying his time throughout the show.

Before the show, during the day time, we went to the indoor theme park

Mia was also had a great fun...

We were very lucky in the second day because it was all bright and sunny. We took the opportunity to bring the kids to the outdoor theme park. Adam might be small physically but he has the biggest will power and desire to challenge himself. Always try to push the limit. He loves obstacles course very much. He loves doing all sort of physical activities like climbing, sliding, jumping, running, balancing etc. I think it's also a way for him to burn all the energy out. I had to accompany him everytime he wanted to do obstacles course, just to make sure his safety because it's not meant for a child at his age. So I also had to go through all the obstacles & seriously it's very tiring I tell you. He was always like, "Come on Daddy! Faster! Faster!". It's very tough for me to catch up with him now..heh..

Wonder why he looked so sad? It was because before taking this kiddy ride, he wanted to take a much more challenging rides but he was denied by the rides controller due to his small physical size. Most of the outdoor rides there have height restrictions. It's ok baby, we will try again next time ok?

We started the day by having a lovely breakfast and the kids enjoying the food very much.

More Pictures on Adam's 3rd. Birthday Celebration in Butlins Leisure Park

The birthday boy...


We took a train & departed from London Victoria station. The journey took almost 2 hours and it was a very exciting experience for Adam because he loooves train so much!


Since he will be turning 3 years old and becoming a big boy, he got his own bedroom at the hotel. He was loving it and the room is just so cosy!


The garden right in front of the Ocean Hotel


The gorgeous sea view overlooking from our balcony.


"I loooove my little sister so much!". This picture tells it all how much Adam loves Mia.

Adam's 3rd. Birthday Celebration | Butlins Leisure Park, Bognor Regis, UK

For Adam's 3rd. birthday we decided to celebrate it at Butlins, a leisure park in Bognor Regis, in south cost of England. Actually Adam's birthday is on the 5th. of October but we had to celebrate early because sadly, I would be busy on that day. This picture was taken at the front of Ocean Hotel, the place where we had stayed during our 3 days holiday there.

P/s: More pictures to come in my next entry! =)

Summer Vacation 2010 | Cornwall's Beaches

Summer is almost coming to its end. This probably our last summer in the UK before we go back to Malaysia for good. We took the opportunity to go for a summer vacation and we chose the beautiful Cornwall beaches to spend our family holiday. I took few days leaves from work and decided to drive to Cornwall from London. It took about 5 hours drive. But with 1 baby and 1 toddler in the car it's just to long to drive straight to Cornwall and so we decided to stop by in Bristol (halfway of the journey) to take a break and visited our friend, Faz and family there. We continued our journey the next morning. Thanks a lot Faz for the hospitality.

It was raining slightly on the way but the weather turned great in the afternoon when we arrived at our camp site. Yup, we actually camping there. We just wanted to experience something different. Tired of staying at typical holidays accommodation such as hotels or B&Bs in busy and crowded city. This time we opted something which is more nature friendly accomodation, a tipi. A tipi is a conical type of hut which is very famous among the Native Americans. To be honest, it is quite comfy and big actually. We cooked our own food there. They do provide gas stove in the tipi and you also have the option to go all natural by using log to do your cooking. We tried both and it's very exciting especially for Adam..hehe..

So the first day we arrived, we went to a historical fishing village Port Isaac to get some groceries and we spent most of our time having picnic in a beach called Polzeath. Both places are just about 15-30 minutes drive away from our tipi and I think both are the nearest town from where we stayed. The view was spectacular and the beach is just so lovely. Hope you enjoy these pictures of breathtaking scenery of Port Isaac.

The breathtaking view along the way to Port Isaac

Gorgeous small fishing village in Port Isaac

The tipi camp site where we stayed

Emirates Cup 2010

This is my second time went to see Emirates Cup which was held last weekend. The 2 days tournament involved 4 teams which were my favourite team Arsenal (England), AC Milan (Italy), Celtic (Scotland) & Lyon (France) and each team played twice. A win gives 3 points, a draw carries 1 point and each goal scored gives another 1 point. Arsenal again this year managed to retain the trophy that they won last year. Weehoo!! They drew 1 all against AC Milan and won 3-2 against Celtic.

Last year I went with my family except Mia because she wasn't born yet..hehe.. This year I went with my colleagues Feroz who is a Man Utd fan, Khairul a Liverpool fan and Kevin a Chelsea fan..heh..We watched the first day's matches where Arsenal played against AC Milan and Celtic against Lyon. It was fantastic and there were couple of goals. However the World Cup bound players like Fabregas, V. Persie, Bendtner and few others did not play but we got to see 2 Arsenal's new signings Chamakh who played so fantastic and awarded as the Man of The match and a new centre back who I did not quite remember the name..hehe..All in all, it was a great experience to all of us and we certainly enjoyed it very much.

The home to beautiful football

The inside view of The Emirates Stadium which has more than 60,000 seats capacity

Feroz (Man Utd. fan), me (Arsenal Fan) & Khairul (Liverpool fan)

Me, Khairul and Kevin (Chelsea fan)

The view from our seats

The speedy Theo Walcott

Pato trying to take on Eboue

19 years old Jack Wilshere; a rising football star & the future of England

Samir Nasri

Weekend Getaway in Camden Lock

I'm so glad that I bought my Iphone. It really is very useful for me to take picture under a very difficult circumstances where I have to carry Adam all the time. It's just almost impossible to be able to even hold my camera. Since Iphone is a lot smaller, I can just simply take it out and quickly snap. The quality is of course not as gorgeous as DSLR's camera but good enough to have decent pictures that we can cherish the moment. I guess, after all the moment that matters the most right? =)

We always take boat whenever we go to Camden. It takes longer time but very relaxing while cruising along the river watching wild life and the beautiful scenery.

Happy Adam. He loves watching ducks, goose and swan along the way.

Gorgeous scenery

Camden market. There are lots of things you can find here. Various food (including halal food as well), antiques, continental, handmade stuffs etc with a very affordable prices.

Adam and Mommy having lunch

One of the antique shops.

My wife in front of her favourite shop

Me and Adam, yeah, he was so sleepy towards the end..hehe..

Royal Albert Hall

It's been a while since my last post. Pretty busy with work lately. So, here a quick post just to keep the momentum alive..hehe..This picture was taken couple of minutes ago on my way to office using my Iphone4. Yup, it's fresh from my phone, no editing whatsoever. I'm quite impressed with the quality. Royal Albert Hall is not that far from my office, it is just behind my office building. I will walk pass it everyday on my to office and back to home.