Stock Counting

It's time to do some organising in my wardrobe so I decided to list an inventory of all football shirts that I collected since I came here in the UK. The total amounts to a modest 25 shirts. The breakdown is as follows: England(various whites and reds) - 7, Manchester United (mostly reds, black and white) - 6, Europeans (including clubs in England) - 7, Malaysian - 3 and Others (China and Atletico Mineiro) - 2.

There is another one coming in for delivery in few days time. But I determined to stop at 31, so that I can wear each one of them once in a month, and 12 times in a year. That means I need to buy 5 more. One of them is definitely going to be the new England home shirt. After the quota is filled, there will be no more football shirts for me then. And time to start a new hobby.

Creatures of the Night

My first Neil Gaiman comic book

My Birthday Present

Jo gave me this limited edition box set of Before Sunrise and Before Sunset DVDs for my birthday present. How romantic!

Colchester

Colchester Castle

Before we going back to Liverpool, we visited Idlan at her house in Colchester, Britain's oldest recorded town. We spent our morning at the local car boot sales and after we had Idlan's world famous 'nasi lemak' for the lunch, we visited Essex University and drove around the town itself.

Stonehenge

Before we are going to the Stansted Airport, we took the opportunity to visit some old rocks.

Bath

Roman Baths

Bath Abbey

Pulteney Bridge

Today we are going to London and along the way we stopped by at Bath, a city famous for its hot springs. The city is quite beautiful and full of tourists. The weather was also fine and after we had kebabs for our lunches, we continued our journey to London.

Trip to Chester

Today we went to visit the historical walled city of Chester. We started our tour by entering the Roman Garden straight to the river. Afterwards we took a walk in the Grosvenor Park and coming out at the Roman Ampitheatre. The weather was very nice and everyone is really enjoying the scenery.

Akok

Jo has managed to cook 'Akok' (a traditional Kelantanese kuih) perfectly under the guidance of Mama Tok. Maisarah likes to pose with them but she doesn't want to taste it at all. Ilyas loves them and today he ate 'butir nangka' as well.

A gift from a neighbour

I was on the way to pick up Maisarah from her school this morning when my next door neighbour said to me, "I've got something for you". He went inside his house and came out with this Mercedes Benz key chain and gave it to me. He said he bought it when he was in the Germany visiting the Mercedes spare parts factory. At the back of the keychain is a coin-like object that you can use on the shopping trolley. What a nice man.

Stand Up If You Hate...

Our neighbour's granddaughter always came to our house to play with Ilyas and Maisarah. Today Georgia came wearing an oversized cap and a scarf. They look suspiciously wrong.

Ilyas' First Story

Ilyas always saw me writing in my blog. So today he wrote this story by himself without anyone asking him. And when he finished it, he showed it to everyone. We are quite impressed with him. Here is what Ilyas written in his note (the italic are my words):

One day Sarah found a big whelly (the actual word is welly, short form of wellington boot or rainboot) She says "it is my whelly" So Sarah take the whelly home. So she tell her mum. Her mum say "thats not my whelly" Sarah say "ho" (it supposed to be oh, Ilyas said) So she take it to her dad. Her dad says " ho (again, this is supposed to be oh) thats my whelly" Sarah say "I found it in the ground" her dad says "how did you go under grown (ground)" Sarah says I just dig Oh says her dad yore (you are) a good girl says her dad I dig it when I was little. The End.

Monsters vs Aliens

Today Jo and myself took Ilyas and Maisarah to watch Monsters vs Aliens in the local cinema. We chose the 3D experience and were given cool 3D glasses by the cinema attendant. Ilyas and Maisarah enjoyed their first 3D cinema in the UK tremendously. Perhaps I can bring them to watch Ice Age 3 in 3D too in a couple of months time.

World Museum Liverpool

When the rest wasted their time at the Anfield Stadium, I took Mama Tok, Cik Ja, Ilyas and Maisarah to visit the World Museum Liverpool near the city centre. As usual, Ilyas and Maisarah went straight to the Dinosaurs exhibition but this time I managed to persuade them to visit other exhibitions as well like fishes, bugs and other animals. Afterwards, the gang regrouped in front of the museum.

This is Anfield

Losers FC

After the visit to the National Football Museum, Jo joined Awa, Lalan, Enol and Tina for the Stadium and Museum Tour at the Anfield Stadium. I stayed at home to spend quality time with Ilyas and Maisarah.

Souvenirs from the National Football Museum

I bought three items from the National Football Museum gift shop. The first is the programme book of Manchester United for the league match against Liverpool on the 18th February 1976 (In case you are wondering, the score is 0-0). The book is 2 months older than me but still in good condition. It costs 10 pence at that time but the price is now £5.

The second item is the first day issue stamp to commemorate World Cup 1986. It has Diego Maradona in action on its face. Unfortunately it's not the picture where he beat England with the 'Hand of God'. The third item is the postcard, a must buy item whenever I visit any interesting place.

National Football Museum

FA Cup replica, 1923

England shirt worn in the world's first international match in 1872

Tom Finney's cap and badgesin the 1950s. Current England home shirt
is incorporating the design of these badges.

Jules Rimet trophy replica

The actual football used in the 1966 World Cup final.

The museum itself is connected to the Deepdale stadium,
home of Preston North End FC

Today I went to the National Football Museum in Preston with Awa, Lalan, Tina and Enol. Just like the rest of the museums in the UK, there is no entrance fee. The museum itself is brilliant and full of football memorabilia which I am confident that any true football fan will truly appreciate it.