First few days in the UK

On arrival in Heathrow, at the immigration check-out Bea3 was attentive to mama's instruction. They were quite energetic despite having short nap during the flight. It was about 5 pm local and 12 midnight Malaysian time.


Adel Rayyan's cheeks turned rosy right away!


On the bridge, crossing the Severn River from Bristol the next morning. Love driving on the motorway in the UK especially knowing we don't have to pay toll. Except for this one, 5.30 pounds (btw, how do I get the symbol forthe currency to put in the blog?)


Green and more green with white dots of sheeps...it was drizzling all morning.


"Mama, are we there yet?" By just looking at the pic, I wish I can bury my nose in those cheeks.

Despite being seated at the last row (of a 7-seater MPV) alone, Bea3 behaved generally well and I think she learnt to appreciate the beauty of the place. And during the first few days, the sight of the sheeps really got the city kid excited.

The name of the places in Wales got our toungues twisted. I never knew that Welsh is totally a different language until my colleague mentioned it during our trip to Danau Toba. He said he must test our pronunciation before the UK trip.

We listened to one Welsh radio channel all the way to Aber, and I just could not help myself. It was just strange, and sometimes it amused me. I told hubby I thought it sound a little like Jawa. And he started talking about his thought. It went something like this "The first ancestors in the Indonesian Island is called Javan, believed to be of the Celtic descendents". To me it was almost an hazardous opinion BUT since I was totally not equipped enough to argue, I just kept mum. All I know is the oldest human skeleton dated 1.2 million was found in Jawa, but I was too lazy to talk more about it when all around me was breathtaking view of Wales. Told him to discuss with Nick, my colleague but he said that was just HIS opinion.

Anyway, my husband always has stories/hypothesis/whatever about a lot of things. Some make sense, some not but he reads a lot so I can't argue much. And during long drive like this, he would talk. Most of the time I listen, other time while I try to stay attentive, I'm just amazed on how much he knows and think, that's what makes me stick to him from the beginning.

Oh my, I digress wayyyy to far now!

We stopped at a small town to grab some sandwitches for lunch.




We're almost there!



Aberystwyth, the town, finally! Nick showed us around and we settled down.


The garden of our rented flat. I just love having the bright sunshine shining through the kitchen window and door.


On most day, the temperature was around 14-15 degrees...a little too cold for me but that didn't bother the kids much. They insisted to be outside. I will write more how the kids adjusted to the new environment.

Some castle ruins, a place that hubby and kids visited a few times but I could only watch far away from the 8th floor of a building, where me and colleagues had tea and lunch in the campus.

Will be back with more later. Thanks for reading!