Wajah

Rosli, Hila and Danial

How could I not include about our hosts in Cardiff. Here, I introduce you all to my lovely friends; Hila, Rosli and Danial. They are just wonderful people. Despite having just moved to their new house in Pontypridd, they still accepted us with open arms.

Hila the Vogue Mama

Thinking back, I still feel embarrassed and guilty to cause them such trouble especially having us as their guests. Furthermore, it was during working days when we arrived. But their sincerity shone through and we did have a lovely time there.

I remember the day we arrived, Hila was still at work. And when she came home, she quickly put on the apron and cooked the most delicious gulai daging I've ever tasted in a long time. There are so many funny moments that we share throughout our friendship. She is indeed a light-hearted person, very caring and a good listener. I'm not surprised if everyone would want to confide their little problems to her.

Rosli in action

Hila is married to Rosli. A very down to earth gentleman who loves photography. I am amazed at how determined he is that he took up a photography diploma course in London. He passed with flying colours. Well done him!

Most of the photos published in this entry were taken by Rosli. I like his creativity especially his portrait shots.

Babah and Al

Both Babah and Rosli went out a couple of times for a photography field trip. It was nice to see they were talking the same language and entertained themselves with all sorts of photography gadgets and different photography websites. Sounds like two school boys discussing about their school project right?

Friendly Danial

The last time we met Danial and his family was early this year (2006). Back then, I remember Danial couldn't speak properly yet but he could sing very well. Especially, "One, Two, Three, Four, Five. Once I caught a fish alive..."

Danial is a very lively and bright boy who has lots of toy trains complete with their tracks. He is actually obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine. He knows every character in the story. How clever is that?!! When we were there, he played well with Sarah. Both made a great team and enjoyed basically the same thing. Luckily Hila's house did not collapse with them two constant jumping up and down and shouting and screaming on top of their voice.

Courteous Inah

Hila has recently employed a helper, Inah. She is good with the housework and she knows when and how to tackle the children appropriately.

The three Chempongs

On the second night in Cardiff, Hila invited a couple of our good friends for dinner. Hila is an amazing cook. She prepared ikan asam pedas, fried chicken and some vegetables. As if that were not enough, Hila even exerted herself in making laksa penang. Where were we while she was preparing the delicacies? We were out and about around Cardiff city centre. We went back to her house just in time for breaking fast.

Humble Kak Sawiah

Kak Sawiah has also joined us for the dinner straight away from her work. It has been quite some time since the last time we saw her. Kak Sawiah was one of the first few people whom I became close with when I first came to Cardiff. You will not believe the amount of energy she has and she has shown the best example in what great friendship should be. She is like the 'elder' sister I have never had.

Diligent Sabrina and charming Erfan

Sabrina and her son, Erfan were there too. She came straight from work too, while Ihsan (her husband) was still on duty for the whole weekend. Like everyone else, Sabrina is also another sweet and polite person. Why am I not surprised that Erfan is also very soft spoken and gentle.

During our dinner that night, Sabrina said something that made us all laughed. We were talking about our respective blogs, when suddenly Sabrina asked "blog tu apa?". We were all literally rolling on the floor laughing so hard. By no means we were making fun of her but she asked it so innocently and she was very clueless too.

Having said all that, I actually envy her. At least she spends 100% on her work, son and family. 9 months ago, I would have been as clueless as her had someone asked me the same question.

Hungry Babah

The next night, Sabrina invited us all to her house. Ihsan was away at work. Erfan was quite poorly. And no maid to help her with the cooking and housework. But Sabrina excellently prepared everything including a luxurious spread of meal for iftar that night. She made nasi tomato, ayam masak merah, udang sweet sour, acar timun, mi goreng and various sorts of desserts. Making me more and more envious of her.

In my head, I kept on reminding myself that I should be as graceful as Hila and Sabrina whenever we have guests in the future.

Other than them, we also received a few other invitations from other friends. We felt so privileged to be invited. Unfortunately we had to turn down their invitation due to our packed schedules.

So there, my kind friends from Cardiff. I've learnt a lot from them and I hope may Allah keep us all under his blessings and may our friendship last forever.