not really a recipe, but yeah, you should prolly read on.

So hi people. its chef lyla here. (whoa, such a statement) since this blog is read by mostly college friends and some of us are leaving (or left dy) soon, i guess i better give you guys heads up bout whats ahead (food-y stuff mostly, well hey, its cook-a-rama), from my experience, at least. u ok with tht folks? aite, read on then :)

so its the fasting month and all and bear in mind, its reaaalllly cold here despite it being not winter time yet. eat lots of carbs during sahur or u'll die on ur way to faculties as ppl here rarely use any other transportation besides well, their freakingg own feet. you can expect to do 2-7 km of walking collectively each day depending on wheather your accom is far away or close by. either ways, i bet my pinky that you'd still have to walk a lot.

the buka puasa is usually held at the uni mousque where meals are sponsored by some rich pakarabs, every weekday. but then again, that depends on wheather or not the islamic society in your university is an active one or not. from what i hear however, places where there is 'kampung melayus' (warwick, manchester,soton and yes my notts) do have free iftar. worse come to worst, there are always seniors who are super duper nice and will invite you for buka puasa. seriously, dorg sgt,sgt,sgt baik. so yeah, remember to return the favour sometime later (read: when you get better at cooking or you'll be mortified as the seniors cookings are sgt sedap ok. baik lelaki mahupon perempuan)

as much as you can get free meals and tapau for sahur (oh yeah, i do that), you cannot run from having to cook your own meals during the weekends. thats where this blog comes as a big helping hand. try to get essentials (knives, pots n pans, plates) as quickly as possible. they doesnt have to be those expensive ones. go to the cheap stores nearby and rest assured, you can get the stuff for only a quid or two or less. alternatively, you can always buy those instant vege pizzas, pastas, nasik goreng and what not n pop it into the microwave (most accom do provide this so no worries of angkuting a microwave aaaalll the way from msia, guys! haha)

that said, i just wannna let you all know, its not all fun and play here. surviving is a skill, u need to have endurance, patience, wit, creativity and initiative. be prepared to be homesick during sahur time especially. dont tell anyone but i actually shed a lil tear on my 1st day sahur here, it felt so far away and so inadequate. but i guess at the end of the day, thats the whole point of getting to a new place n a kind of starting a new life. its the experince and the person you become out of em that really matters.

finally, enjoy your time in msia. as much fun as youre gonna get here, u'll sometimes still think of malaysia and all its goodness. to those who belum ada rezeki to go abroad, if anything you shudnt feel sad. we all will have different sets of experience and im sure, all will find the purpose god fated us to go that path sooner or later, if you havnt already found it. the lamp might be different but the light is all the same :)

cheers!