Police officer injured in incident near our house

This Thursday afternoon I was at home alone and doing some research when there was a knock on the door.

I was shocked to see a police officer at the door. Behind him were a number of police cars with flashing lights and other police officers as well.

Apparently there had been an incident near our house and they had cordoned off the entire street. SO the officer asked me how many stayed in the house, their particulars, the number of cars we had and the registration numbers. I forgot our Volvo's number and had to look for the registration while I left him waiting at the the door. It was strange but I couldn't recall our neighbour's names either. We are not really close and only on a "Hello! You alright!" basis. I got to make an effort to know them better. We were prevented from leaving the area while they conducted their investigation.

I was a bit worried because I had to fetch my kids from school. There was also a tow truck parked right beside my car but when I went out they moved it away and I was able to fetch the kids.

Later on found out that a policeman on the rounds had been questioning some blokes in a black Peugeot 307 when it suddenly drove away injuring the police officer. Read more about the incident on the Coventry Telegraph website: Fleeing car injures police officer in Coventry

Some London Pics

My daughter With Ayah Muz in Wok in the Box




Paddington Station


At a cafe. They asked me not to take any more pictures. Wonder what was so great about the place.




Dinos at the museum






Strange, an almost empty London street


Not so empty London street


It's still busy in the evening

Back to cold Coventry

We are finally back in cold Coventry after a few days in London. Did some house hunting, some shopping and a lot of walking.


My sister-in-law had only about two weeks to find a house and we saw some houses. Today I learnt that she has put in an offer for the first house we saw. I guess the parking, easy access to the tube and proximity to the park did the trick.



The shopping was good but personally I prefer Coventry with our small cozy house with cheap rental) the huge garden. We can also park anywhere along the road totally free-of-charge.

Driving in London is a nightmare with traffic jams,the congestion charges and limited parking. Even though the tube are regular and most efficient way to get around the city, they are not exactly cheap and not really child friendly either.

Happy New Year 2009

Can't believe it but time passes so fast. It seems just like yesterday, we cheered the new year 2008 in.

Wishing all visitors to my blog a wonderful New Year.

A short post from my sister-in-law's appartment in London.

Buying 3 pay as you go SIM card

My sister-in-law who's just moved to London wanted to buy a pay as you go SIM card only, as she already has a phone. It was meant to be a temporary thing before she signed up for a monthly payment plan. Of course I suggested 3. So off we went to their store in Bayswater, London. However, I was quite surprised when I found out that they didn't have any pay as you go sim card in stock.

Further down the road there's a Phones 4 U shop and they eventually bought the 3 sim card from there.

This is yet another example of a 3 store disappointing me. My previous experience was buying a phone from their Coventry store. Yet another reason for interested customers to buy phones or SIM card from their online store.

Driving in London

Last Sunday, we drove down to London to meet up with my sister-in-law who just moved to the UK. My brother-in-law had arrived a few days earlier. I hate driving in London and my sister-in-law was staying in an apartment right in the heart of the city - in Bayswater (near the Malaysian Hall). Fortunately I didn't have to pay the congestion charge as it was a Sunday. Moreover metered spaces and single yellow lines were free for parking.

I don't know what I would have done without my TomTom. A Sat-nav is a must have gadget for anyone who drives in the UK. However, I realised that I need to update to the latest map as it kept telling me to go into one way streets - the wrong way and into roads that didn't exist any more. It also tells me that the fastest route to our house is via the M6 whereas I prefer to take the M40 - which is even faster. It took me more than half an hour just to get out of the city on the way back. Sometimes technology can drive you crazy.

Going back to London again this week and I have to pay the congestion charges. Fortunately a friend has allowed us to park our car in front of her house for free otherwise I would have had to spend a huge amount for the parking.

Thrice to Ikea in 2 weeks

I am sure we are the customers that retailers dream about - I mean we went to the Ikea store in Coventry three times in 2 weeks. Not that we have a lot of money to spend but the kids were restless at home and it's freezing cold to go roaming anywhere else. So thinking about a warm place where the kids can play supervised for free, with affordable yet good warm food and maybe grab some bargains at the same time - well the Ikea Coventry store is the only place which ticks yes to all the points above.

Anyway, we were there yesterday - again, to buy the Sultan Sova mattress for our daughter and a new shower curtain. So we left our daughter at Smaland. It's on the third floor near the checkouts. We then went up to the 4th floor where the customer returns are located to return a cup. We had bought it the last time we had been there and later on discovered that it had a chip when we reached home. I didn't think they would but they gave us a refund.

We had gone there to buy the mattress and curtain but along the way some candles went into the trolley, as did a few slippers which were on sale for only 10p a pair, some gift wrappers (49p), a set of glass tumblers, a cup and some items from the bargain corner.

I finally found the 'UK at home' book as I was browsing around for bargains near the checkouts. The book costs £19 but I got it for free thanks to a coupon I had received sometime back and I got a further £10 discount (another coupon) as well.

Took out my daughter from Smaland and we had an early dinner together at the restaurant.

It was a nice day out.