Another far, far away mini reunion...

The spring is back with lots of flowers! And thank God, today's weather is so kind and lovely. It's bright and sunny almost throughout the day. I guess it's a good welcome for my long lost friend, Anne, who I've been met for about 11 years! If I'm not mistaken, the last time I saw her was at our graduation day in 1997. Anne is currently pursuing her PhD at the University of Loughborough.

And today is a reunion day for me and a couple of friends from my two years at the MARA College Banting. Like Anne, I've also not met them for 11 years. We agreed to gather at Na'aman's and Farah's for a makan-makan.

Anne and Yati came to pick me at about 10.30 am, and straight away we drove to Prestwich, which is about 8 mile from Fallowfield. Upon arrival, we were greeted by Farah alone, because according to her, Na'aman went out for groceries. We were the first to arrive, and without wasting any time, our chief, Anne, started to show us her wonders.

At first, she had entrusted me to cut the chicken that I bought yesterday into much smaller pieces. I've bought 8 pairs of chicken legs and asked the butcher to cut each chicken leg into 2 pieces (I should have asked him to cut it into 3 pieces instead!). She showed me the trick, by cutting at the joint so that I don't waste as much energy if I were about to cut the bone. Not only I'm a bad cook, I ended up "hancurkan" the chicken. To help me out from my hopelessness, she gave me another challenging task i.e. to cut red onions and garlics.

"After you finish that, please and please, have a sit and jamah my fried bihun, please!"

Not long after that, Na'aman came back with fresh mackerels from Bury. Then, came Azhan, which is not a MCBian, but a close friend of our hosts. After that, Shamsul Azri arrived with his wife, just before Salihan came with his wife and a 3 year old daughter. Oh my... the girl is super cute!

We chatted and tried as much as possible to catch up what we have missed for the last 11 years. And so many gossips were exchanged too! Don't worry guys, all of them were open secrets anyway. So, nothing was really, really new and NO controversy at all.

I just found out that Na'aman, Amir Imran and Irman Hussein were friends since their primary school days in Kelantan. However, Na'aman did not recall Faris. All this while, I thought Faris, Amir Imran and Irman were from the same school. Hmmm...

Anyhow, I append some pictures taken at the said reunion for your viewing pleasure.

This is how you grill mackerels!



Can you see the delicious Ayam Masak Merah?

Syamsul Azri, Na'aman & Nazirah



Yati, Anne, Salihan's wife, Farah & Na'aman

Farah, Syamzul Azri, Salihan, Azhan & Anne

Mini reunion of MCBians

Special thanks to the hosts!

And thanks Anne for the delicious Ayam Masak Merah and Kacang Merah Baguette

After a lovely lunch in Prestwich, I brought Anne and Yati to Chinatown since Anne want to purchase daun kesom for her laksa. Luckily, I don't eat laksa. If not, I will definetely won't let Anne to return to Loughborough without cooking it for me. Before the girls went home, we stopped for coffee at Caffe Nero.


Thanks, Anne for fulfilling my request for the delicious Ayam Masak Merah and I'm so glad to have meet my old friends. Insya-Allah, will see you again when Pistol comes to Manchester end of this month. Till then, please doakan so that I've the istiqamah to finish my courseworks. I really, really need those prayers!