Tuesday 31 July 2007

Weather Was On My Side

It was bad.. really bad. the rain didnt stop the night before, it was pouring. we were suppose to hit the road back to the netherlands that friday evening. we packed our stuff out of the apartment my parents rented for us, carried them in the rain to the car and headed to kakak's house for lunch before pushing off. we thought it was just normal rain and hope it'll calm down or hopefully stop. we didnt know how severe it was, well, we werent sure of it anyway - until our dear Ian called, telling us it's simply mad! the motorways are closed, roads are really jammed, and they're going back from work early that day.




(photos taken from BBC around Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire)

Unlike here, when it comes to the motorway in the UK, when its jammed, it gets really awful. and just imagine- the motorway was flooded! we got on the internet to see how bad it was and plan our alternative routes. mum's face turned from sad to seeing us leave to concerned, dad's putting up a cool face, kakak was certain of the outcome but just waiting for us to make the call, redza's been telling us to postpone our trip back home from the previous day since i told him that NEXT would be on sale on saturday! they were all worried. despite all that, we decided to have a go and see how bad it was. besides, we've booked our eurotunnel that day. so we said our goodbyes, said our thanks and exchanged lots of kisses and hugs in the rain with the hope that it wouldnt be that bad... drove to the first junction and saw a huge line of cars, all queuing. it was bad. we havent even reached the main road and cars are all queuing!! we turned back.





After all the sobbing and the hugging! 5 mins later we were back where we hugged and cried! haha! we had a huge laugh!! mum was crying in the house whilst holding baby Ferran, and as soon as we entered the door, she thanked God and told us how worried she was for us having to travel a good 8-10 hours drive with a 10 month old baby, in the rain with floods everywhere! so we called eurotunnel and booked us on a sunday! we went back to the junction and managed to snap some photos, which by then the water has subside.

Yeyyyy!! i can make it for NEXT sale the next morning! we've been so looking forward to it for the last 3 weeks while in th UK! its really scarry though cause God really heard my prayers!! He knows i have been good and havent been shopping for my stuff, apart from some books!!



NEXT is a brand which we all love and trust. their quality's just superior! they start their sale as early as 5am in the morning! and i remember back in uni days, me and my dear good friend Nina used to wake up early, brushed our teeths and hop on the bus to queue for the same purpose. it is absolutely crazy! everything was less than half price! so just imagine how mad we were. the 5o'clock sale works for me, a mother with a baby who wakes up at around 8ish on most mornings, so i could have at least a good 2-3 hours of shopping free from pushing a stroller.

Fi woke up for Ferran's morning feed, Redza's all ready and dressed up, i was way ahead of all the rest, but my struggle was to wake my dear husband up having slept at 3 playing Wii, i felt for him. but HEY! it's my turn to shop!! :) i havent even bought a pair of socks yet! so as soon as Ferran's settled, we handed our sons over to the trustful and capable hands of mum and dad. they shooed us and told us not to worry!

We missed the 1st hour but that's ok... we compensate it by being in the shop for slightly way over 2 hours! we kept on looking at hour handphones to see if our parents had called. but NO! so we happily shopped away!



This is one sale that you wouldnt want to miss if you're in the UK. the sale worth waiting for. the sale worth waking up at 5am, the sale worth dropping! we were like 2 couples, having had a new life, a family of our own with babies, and still wanting to have the old luxuries of our old life!! but hey, at least we didnt shop for ourselves, half of what we bought was for our sons!!!! so if you guys, Aidan and Ferran happen to read this one day, we went there for you! bought loads for you cause we love you!

I know this sounds cruel, many people are still suffering due to the flood, we're thankful that one day, on sunday, the weather was on our side for us to drive back home, and on friday, the weather was on my selfish side for me to get to go to the sale.

Z

5 comments:

toughcookie said...

Ala.. Bestnye.. Nak join..

Glad that you're ok. From the news here, it looks pretty bad.

Anonymous said...

Gosh, I do miss the 'NEXT' sale. All I am able to do here is just check out the website and stare at it. Haha!
Glad you finally made to the sale, Za!!

Nina

Anonymous said...

best..best...
citer lagi za!
more pic on ferran n aidan laaa...c comey2 tuuuu

ween said...

hi, first time here... really do njoy your blog.... which part of holland you're at?


ween
rockmycradle.blogspot

ZazaHardy said...

juan: when you plan to go to the uk, go when it's summer, their sale's definitely worth it!

flood was really really bad, people didnt even have clean water for days!!

my dearest nina whom i have missed so terribly much,
this was my first time going to their summer sale since the last time we went - 10 years ago?! stop going to malaysia when i'm no longer there and start coming here instead, so we can fly to uk to shop!! hehe. love and miss you loads, hugs kisses to the kids!

k.ct: memang ada banyakkk cerita but i have to wait when the timing's right. aidan's been cranky and clingy lately!! i am trying to manage 2 blogs (chehhh! baru 2 dah tak larat!) sabar ehhh...

ween: thanks for dropping by! we're in sittard, the netherlads. its near to the borders of belgium and germany. the closest big town to us is maastricht.

i notice you love beads? my mum is absolutely crazy over them and she makes them as well. will share with you at my other blog soon on hers k?

http://zazacraftsandcooks.blogspot.com/

Z