We found a beautiful area at the end of street. MasyaAllah. Autumn is beautiful!
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Fall 2015 : Show Racism the Red Card!
They have to wear something red to the school that day for the "Show Racism the Red Card" campaign - the UK's anti-racism campaign that uses top footballers to educate against racism.
Fall 2015 : Supports by the University
Anything you need to know about registration, payment, letters for bank/council tax exemption, to name a few, you could go to the Student Services Centre. They are very efficient and extremely helpful!!
You are into active lifestyle? You are going to love it here!!
What about learning new languages? See it for yourself!
Need ICT support? I went to the learning commons to get technical assistance in setting up my mobile phone and laptop, to access the university system.
Knowledge management? Libraries are everywhere.
They also have My Learning Essentials which offers useful workshops, online resources and drop-ins sessions, if you have question on your assignments.
Getting around the campus? You will never get lost. There are maps everywhere on signboards. I keep mine handy in my pencil case.
Fall 2015 : Berries in backyard
Oh yes, we have these in our backyard.
(These was taken in autumn. They stop producing in winter and we are waiting for the next batch in spring/summer)
Fall 2015 : The day Nazmi fell down
Nazmi tried to get his bottle and he slipped. He hit the table with sharp edges and bleed a lot. We were panic. It was late and we didnt have a car. The other kids were sleeping and we didnt know how far is the nearest hospital.
My husband called his friend but he didnt answer. He leave a message, requesting to bring Nazmi to the hospital. Meanwhile, we tried to stop the bleeding. We recited all du'a that we know of.
And suddenly it stopped.
And his friend return the call. He just finished playing badminton with other Malaysian community nearby.
We decided not to bring Nazmi to the hospital since the cut is not that deep, that required stitches. That was the turning point for us. We decided to join the Malaysian community in Manchester as soon as possible to get all the support and help should there be any emergency in the future.
The next day, I went to the chemist and bought an antiseptic cream and gel for cuts. The cut heal in a couple of days.
Fall 2015 : The day Nazmi's buggy is dead
It was broken at three different parts. We pushed it to the limit (with tapes and cable to hold two broken parts in places) until it cant hold it anymore. My aunt gave us the buggy one day before we came here. It survived for more than a month.
My husband went out immediately to look for a new [affordable] buggy. It was his first time going out on his own that day.
He got the last piece at ASDA at GBP20. Alhamdulillah.
He got the last piece at ASDA at GBP20. Alhamdulillah.
Fall 2015 : The welcome home every afternoon
When I came back from my campus everyday (during nice weather)...
"welcome home, mama!"
I will text my husband when I got off the bus. I took me another 15 minutes to walk home. They will wait at the end of the hidden pathway for my return. And we will walk and laugh together until we reach home.
Fall 2015 : The bye-bye every morning
When I am going to my campus everyday....
They waited until mama disappear from their sight.
"bye-bye, mama!"
Fall 2015 : My first essay & Nabil at the Learning Common
The first assignment was hard.
Hard because I have been working for 11 years, I am not used to read academic pieces, I didnt have economic background, I am not familiar with any of the economic theories, I am not used to academic writing since I graduated in 2004 and I have a lot of things going on in my mind...
...such as...Nazran's school, Nabil and Nazreen's struggle at new school, no internet at home, no dining chairs, Nazmi's broken buggy (money!), yellow lights (oh it bothers me A LOT! I hate yellow lamp in the house!!), cold house (we didnt turn on the heater to save money), how to avoid frequent trips to grocery store (because we didnt have car so we could only buy limited quantities of food per trip, hence regular trip), energy bills and many more.
Against all odd, I told my husband that I am going to stay at the learning common the whole night to do my essay. I need the internet. I will be back the next day. I told him I will bring Nabil along because I knew he will be worried. He agreed.
After Nabil came back from his school (Friday), he took a shower and prepare his stuff. He put his homework and *pillow* in my luggage. I prepared dinner for the family. We went out at 7.30pm. We recited Ayatul Kursi the whole journey from the house to the campus. It was my (our) first time going out at night.
First stop, Main Library. I need to borrow a few books for the assignments. While I was looking for books, Nabil worked on his homework, acting his best as a university student. lol.
Then, around 10pm, we went to the learning common, which opens 24/7.
For the first few minutes, he was doing his work and eating sandwich happily.
The next few minutes, he looked like this. That is one serious pillow!
The security guards were awesome! They checked on the students and re-arranged the chairs regularly throughout the night. They will make sure they will not make any noise while arranging furniture around Nabil while he was sleeping! Thank you!
After Solat Subuh, we packed our stuff. It was so calm, peaceful and warm there.
I really like it there. We went home around 7.30am.
It was really cool to be able to do my work at the learning common with Nabil <3 font="">
Fall 2015 : Packed dinner (lunch)
For the first two weeks in the new school, we paid GBP10 per person per week for Nabil and Nazreen's dinner, just to know what kind of food provided by the school, so we could prepare similar menu which sufficient to keep them full until 3pm. I have reminded them that the food prepared by the school is Halal, but Nazreen keep on asking the dinner lady on whether it is Halal or not. His teacher met me one day and asked me to remind Nazreen that everything is Halal, he is not supposed to be afraid to eat.
On the third week, we started preparing the packed dinners. These are some of them:
Fruit - orange, many types of apple, conference pear, grapes, berries, banana and peach.
Snack - biscuit, rice cakes, corn thins, cakes, bread pudding, yogurt.
Juice - nowadays, skyjuice. Last time, it was orange, pineapple, apple, exotic fruit mixture, beetroot, mango, tomato, berries. I just blend whatever fruit we have at home.
Dont asked me why they called lunch, dinner. I didnt know.
Sometimes I just wonder why they have such a good looking and healthy packed dinner while I always end up with a miserable egg sandwich in a sandwich bag which usually squashed in the backpack (well, I read somewhere that squashed sandwich tastes better - it is!) or cereal bar with plain water to my class. haha.
That's how moms operate, I guess. We put everyone first and ourselves last.
Fall 2015 : Solat (prayer)
Solat is easy eventho I am studying abroad.
Although mosque or proper musolla are located quite far from my class venues, but there are a few quite rooms nearby.
I pray at St. Peter & Chaplaincy quite room on daily basis. There are aplenty of sejadah (prayer mat) available and the room is usually full during early Zuhur and Asar. I took the ablution downstairs, at the restroom. You need to be strategic and acquire a good time management skill to make sure no one walks in when you have your feet in the sink! LOL.
Last time there was this table, but nowadays, it was no longer there
It feel so peaceful to be able to pray together with fellow sisters and brothers from all over the world after attending a [very hard to understand] lecture or in between doing critical essays. It is an essential break for me from the academic routine in the campus.
If I stay late at the library or learning common (which is quite a distance from St. Peter), I just have to find the right time to pray at the staircase area after strategically and discreetly taking the ablution in the restroom. Some sinks are just wayyyy to high.
For non-Muslims who wish to know more about ablution/wudhu, click here. To summarise, Muslims are required to wash certain parts of our body (hence the term ablution/wudhu) before we could perform our solat. These are the parts involved:
(Taken from http://www.dar-alifta.org/)
For new students or visitors at the University of Manchester, these are prayer areas available around the campus. Hope it helps!
These are solat times during fall in Manchester. Just to give you the idea how early the Maghrib here (compared to Kuala Lumpur).
My friend sent me this after a few weeks we have been practising our time management and water bending skills while taking ablution in the restroom here. I can truly relate to this!
Monday, April 4, 2016
Fall 2015 : Swimming class
Nazreen is so fortunate because the Manchester City Council provides swimming lesson for all Year 4 students. The lesson was held at Abraham Moss Leisure Centre.
Between classes, I managed to go to Arndale Shopping Complex and bought his swimwear, for his first lesson. I was running the whole journey because I only have less than two hours window to get on the bus, go to Arndale, look for the right one and get back to the campus, ready for the next class.
Fall 2015 : Beautiful autumn at the university
I had my lunch at the bench on the way to the Main Library, enjoying the sunlight and the view. I still cant believe I am a student of this beautiful university...after being married with four kids and working for 11 years.
Fall 2015 : Registering for internet and landline, water and energy bills
These are crucial if you rented a house here - register for internet services (and landline), water and wastewater as well as electricity and gas suppliers. You can choose to pay it monthly, quarterly or annually, by cash, debit card or auto debit. I choose auto debit for all services since it is more convenient. For water and energy, I will make sure I submit the meter reading on time (online) so I only pay for whatever amount that we use.
There are websites which offer financial services comparison between various service providers (energy supplier, credit card, insurances, to name a few). This is one of the comparison services - GoCompare. Nazmi's favourite ad. Enjoy!
Once you have done the comparison and chose the most competitive rate, you just have to register online. They will call you to get personal information and payment details. Then you are good to go.
If the previous tenant subscribe to different supplier, dont worry, you could just switch. It just a phone call away.
Fall 2015 : The slug watching activity
This was their daily activity during fall. Watching slugs.
Slugs are everywhere, some found their way into our kitchen at night! They are massive O_O
I poured water infused with crushed garlic in front of our main entrance and the rear door. No slugs enter the house since.
Fall 2015 : High-Technology trousers
We went school uniform-hunting.
I was so impressed to find out that their trousers are protected by a high technology fabric protector. Teflon. Just like the one on my frying pan :)
I never left my sewing kits behind. It comes handy when I need to alter their trousers.
Nazmi loves to play with needles
Fall 2015: Registering for GP
All residents (including full time students and their families) in the UK should register with a General Practitioner (GP). During visa application process, we have spent GBP1500 for National Health Services (NHS). NHS is a public-funded healthcare system for England. They provide fund for the GPs and medical prescriptions, among others.
We went to one GP before (we walked nearly for 40 minutes) but was told our house is not in their coverage area. They suggested us to go to Cheetham Primary Care Centre.
We walked there from our house. It took us around 30 minutes.
The whole registration process was a breeze. You need to bring the passports, BRPs, immunisation records for the kids (remember to bring the blue book, if you have a baby and get the medical record from the school, if you have kid - they keep the list of jabs inside there) and medical records for you and your spouse. We obtained the whole list of medication and medical history from our doctors in Malaysia before we came here.
In a few weeks, we received a call to attend a medical check-up at the Centre. After the check up, they set appointments for me (for asthma and pap smear) and for my husband (for diabetes). We also received letters for Nazran and Nazmi to receive a few immunisation jabs.
Fall 2015 : Registering for school – trying our luck
We had a chat with a lovely couple who owns a grocery shop at Cheetham Hill. They happened to live near our house. We exchanged addresses and numbers (we need all the help and support in this new place). They suggested us to go to the nearest school and ask whether they have any vacancy for our kids.
The next day, I went to the school with the kids. We didnt expect to get a placement directly from the school since we were informed earlier at the Council that all placement will be handled by them. But, we decided to give it a go. The school is less than 10 minutes walking from our house. It would be good if they can attend the school.
Kids were eagerly watching other students in the school hall
The school asked for their names and dates of birth. They need to check if there are vacancies for the kids, then they will give us a ring.
**
The next day, I received a call from the school. They said they can accept Nabil in Year 5 and Nazreen in Year 4 classes. However, due to the infant size class for Year 2, they cant offer Nazran a place. That is good enough for us!!
I went to the school in the next 30 minutes with the kids, fill in some forms, sign some agreements and the kids were extremely excited to try their new jumpers!!!
It was Thursday. And the school asked them to attend their first class on Friday. However, we already planned to register with the General Practitioner (GP) on Friday. So, the principal agreed they start their school on Monday.
Alhamdulillah.
Saturday, April 2, 2016
Fall 2015 : Council tax exemption and school registration
This pretty much sum up what I want to explain...
Basically, you need to register to council tax exemption ONLINE.
Then, bring the proof of your name (passport and BRP for international student) and address (letter from the university) to the Manchester City Council. I went there with the whole family.
Once we were there, I registered as a member of Manchester Central Library (you know I love library) and I printed school application forms for my sons. I filled in the details on the spot and seal it properly in an envelope. Then, I put it inside the mailbox at the the city council counter. No postage stamp required.
1. whether I am eligible for council tax exemption / reduction - I received it a week later - I am exempted :) (or else I need to pay more than GBP500 per month)
2. school placement for my kids.
Fall 2015 : Opening bank account
There are a few banks you could choose from - Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, to name a few. September is a peak season for all banks here. Once you have registered with the university and get the letter to open the bank account, you can register for an account ONLINE.
They will email your account number, sort code and you need to go to the nearest branch (usually it is indicated in the email) with a proof of your name (passport and BRP for international student) and address (letter from the university).
They will fill in your information online during the appointment and your account will be open in one week.
In my case, my name in the letter does not matches to the one in the passport (it missed 'binti' - well, binti is not even my name, it is an Arabic for 'the daughter of'). I have to change my details online in the university system then went to the Student Services to get another letter....and set another appointment date +_+ which is two weeks away. It is important for you to bring enough money before you received the fund from your sponsor in the local bank account.
The bank will post the debit card in one week after you have completed the whole process. And the PIN number arrived a few days later. Then you are good to go.
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