I'm back where my heart is!

I'm home again! Alhamdulillah, after a very very very long journey, being at home with my family makes it all worth it.

Packing this time 'round was not so stressful because I knew what I needed to bring back: textbooks, textbooks, and more textbooks. I'll be having exams in January and I'm absolutely terrified because the class tests that we'd had for the modules pretty much killed me. I'll have to discipline myself during the holidays... which seems like an impossible feat right now... but it has to be done. One way or another. God help me.

I'd brought back 7 textbooks. Even with little else in my suitcase, it weighed 30.6kg. Dude. It was almost as heavy as I am. I had to lug the huge thing to the tube station, carry it down a flight of stairs (with Rem's help), and yank it onto the tube. Thank God I was travelling with my sister and Rem. If I was alone I'd be crying in frustration because my luggage wouldn't budge.

The flight was smooth alhamdulillah but I drifted in and out of sleep so many times that I wonder how I'd even slept in flights before this. One good thing about being petite is that I can fold myself into foetus position in the seat in economy, so basically throughout most of the 13 hours I tried to arrange myself in every angle possible to try to be comfortable. My body ached and my neck hurt, but ahhh none of it matters now because I'll be sleeping in my own bed tonight! Yay!!

When we got home just now Najwa and I were so excited because we had a little surprise for our dad from London. On Friday after class we'd gone to his all-time favourite kebab place, Taza, and packed some kebabs and the sauces to bring home. It's been a year since he last had it and I was so excited to see his reaction. When we gave it to him, the only thing he said for about 5 minutes was "Woooo!!!" Hahaha you don't understand the satisfaction that we felt. We've always struggled to figure out what gift to get him for his birthday, Father's Day, etc. Taza. Taza was the answer all along.

We did feel bad because we didn't get anything as meaningful for our mom, but we've told her that if we could bring back John Lewis for her, we would have.

I got my sambal tumis udang, which is like the favourite of all my favourites. I totally forgot that I had to control my intake of sambal until my dad pointed out that I'm gonna get sakit perut if I didn't. But of course I couldn't stop myself.

And as if the night wasn't already good enough, I got to watch the Manchester United match in HD!!! CRIES!!! One of the things that I always complain about being in London is that I don't get to watch HD football. I have to opt for livestreaming for most matches (provided that I'm even home to watch the match) and the resolution is horrible. So you can imagine how thrilled I was when I could watch my favourite team play (AND WIN) against Liverpool, with my dad and brothers, in high definition. Perfect football night.

Have you ever had those times when you just feel so grateful for everything that your heart feels like it's about to burst? Tonight was one of those times for me. Alhamdulillah :)