Tuna Kebab

Hey


In my last post, I said I will share another recipe today. So, here I am! It is the first time I am posting recipes one after the other, very rare of me... Here we go!

Ingredients:

- 5 big potatoes, boiled

- 2 can of tuna

- 1 small onion

- 3 green chillies

- Salt to taste

- 3/4 tsp chilli powder

- 1 tsp garam masala

- 1 cup bread crumbs

- 1 Egg

- Oil for deep frying


Method:

1. Take the tuna out of the can. Squeeze and drain the excess oil or brine with your hands until there is no liquid.

2. Chop the onion into small pieces and the chillies into small rounds. Sauté it with oil until golden brown and remove from the pan, removing excess oil.

3. In a big bowl, add the boiled potatoes and mash them with your hands.

4. Add the tuna, sauteed onion and chillies, salt, chilli powder and garam masala and give it a good mix.

5. Take a little bit of mixture and make it into a round circle. Do this for all of them.

6. In a small bowl, crack the eggs and beat it with a pinch of salt. Add the bread crumbs in another big bowl.

7. Dip the kebabs in egg fully and then in bread crumbs till fully covered in crumbs. Do this to all of them.

8. Heat the oil and fry the kebabs until golden brown.



Serve!


You can make these in advance and store them in the fridge for short time (if you are going to fry them in a few hours or the next day) or store them for a long time in the freezer in an air tight container. It should last a couple of weeks or months. Just take them out of the freezer a couple of hours before frying them.

I hope you like the recipe and make this, as Eid is just under a week so it is great for Eid and I always make this. It is delicious. If you don't trust me just try it yourself. Let me know how yours turned out.

Take Care,

Yours, Nafiza

Semi Chocolate Marble Cake With Honeycomb

Hi!

I have had quite a few requests to share the recipe for this cake from my friends so I could not avoid listening the request of my lovely friends and readers. This cake is half chocolate and half plain to satisfy everyone's needs. It is best to have it fresh the on the same day. Reason being the honeycomb (caramel topping) melted off the next day, or maybe it was a warm day. Either way anything tastes nice the day it is made. It has a cheeky surprise for my nut lovers. I am a huge nut lover. I love any nuts so why not be a bit naughty? Without further ado, here we go!!!


Ingredients:


Honeycomb:


- 1 Cup Sugar

- Pinch of Golden Syrup (optional)

- 2 Tsp Baking Soda



Cake:


- 1 Cup Butter

- 1 Cup Sugar

- 4 Eggs

- 1 Cup Flour

- 3/4 Tbsp Baking Powder

- Nut powder to your liking (grate a handful of your choice of nuts and grate them in a grater)

- 2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder

- Chocolate of own choice for decoration/topping


Method: 


To make the honeycomb


- Melt the sugar and the golden syrup together in a pan, making sure it does not burn. For that heat it in low heat.

- When all the sugar is melted, add the baking soda, this will make it foam up. Stir for a bit and lay it in a tray lined with baking paper. Let it cool and solidify.


To make the cake


- In a bowl, add the butter and sugar and beat till mixed well.

- When they are mixed well and sugar is well incorporated, add an egg at a time and mix it up.

- Sift in the flour and baking powder together and mix it up until well incorporated.

- Add the nut powder and give it a final mix.

- Remove 2-3 tbsp of the cake mix in a small bowl.

- Add the cocoa powder and give it a good mix.

- Pour the white cake mix in your desired cake pan.

- Add dollops of the chocolate cake mix in random places and with a toothpick, swirl around to make marble design.

- Preheat you oven to 180 C for 5 minutes

- Put your cake to bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until cooked.

- When done, remove and leave to cool.

- Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and spread around the desired places of the cake. Top it off with small pieces of the honeycomb around the cake.

Serve!!!

Here is how I did it! I made them into cakes and cupcakes.

Plain cake with no decoration for my parents

The cupcakes with chocolate and honeycomb

All the cakes!

Make sure to come back on Wednesday as I will be posting another recipe requested by my friends. Hint hint it's a savoury snack...

Hope you make these and if you do please share the pictures to me. I love to see how others do it.

Take Care,

Yours, Nafiza

Shopping with Men

Hey Guys!


It seems that my story-type posts are more popular than the advice ones or the recipe ones. Taking that into consideration, today I have for you an insight of what it is to go shopping with men.

There's a stereotype going around for a long time that women tend to take forever when they go shopping. Let me tell you something, we end up getting the products! Unlike men, they will end up not buying it. Women do end up shopping a lot, making use of their time.

Let me share with you 2 stories of my experiences with shopping with men.

A while ago, my cousin (male), my brother and I went for shopping quite far (Lakeside). Often times things are more available in such places. So we arrive there and go to Cinnabon to chill (and my cousin works there so... free treats). Afterwards the shopping begins. We go Primark... they look at everything there is for men... nothing! Next! JD...they look from entering only two steps inside and walk out sensing that there's nothing! Next! Sports Direct... Nothing! Somehow we ended up in Blue Inc. After investigating their products, my cousin likes nothing but thank God my brother liked 3 T-shirts after changing his mind 50 times and he gets it. Next...H&M. Note that at this point we have passed by the MAC store at least 3 times and as a makeup lover I am dying to go in and see but I haven't entered a single time. It killed me every single damn time. Anyway.

They look at everything there is in H&M and the Lord has heard my prayers! They find jeans they like! Do they pick out their size and pay for it? No no, they investigate the ish out of that. They check the colour closely, from far, in natural light, in artificial light. They try 3 different ones out, they check how it fits them. Investigate if it's worth it and some other stuff that by now I stopped caring. What happens at the end? They get one each! All I got was a fancy pair of shoes that I found near the cashier which took me 2 minutes to pick out.

At this point I am physically and mentally tired. I just want to sit down. Luckily they were tired too and done. Overall in 2 hours of shopping one managed to get 3 tees and a pair of jeans and the other just a pair of jeans! How efficient of them!

We came back and ended the day by going KFC.

Another one...

Last Sunday was Father's Day so I wanted to be a good daughter and get something for my dad. We went shopping in the morning at around half past 11. We go to a store and I thought that since I am here I might pick something for my grandfather and my uncle for when I go holidays back home. Since my dad is quite picky about his clothes I let him choose what he wants. I got some stuff for my grandfather and my uncle. My dad did pick something but when he saw what I got for my grandfather, he told me to change what I took. So me and my mum told him to choose for my grandfather. My dad kept investigating all the clothes in that small area and checking their quality. He changed his mind minimum 5 times. What did my mum and I do? Go to the men's shoes area and sit there till he picks something. At some points he started to doubt if he liked the shirt I wanted to gift him. At the end he did pick some stuff and I had to ask 2-3 times if he is sure just in case I might have to come back and exchange it. This took roughly an hour.

Eid is not too far off so we go to Green Street to get Asian clothes for men. I am not sure of the exact name but the shop labelled them "Men's Kameez", a name I have never heard. Also called panjabi in Bengali.We go to a shop, my dad looks at all the different ones they have, he doesn't like any of them. My mum found a good one for my brother and she got it. We went to another shop which was in front of the first one and this shop only sells men's Kameez. This shop was super packed. It was a struggle to move around yet, we looked at what they have and thank God my dad likes one. He was quite happy he liked it and my mum and I were super happy that he finally liked one. So everyone's happy. What time did we come back home? 6 pm. From 11:30 am to 6 we were outside shopping.

My point is that men are annoying when shopping in the way that they take too long to choose something and just waste time. Girls, next time you hear someone saying it is annoying to shop with women, please prove them they are equally or more annoying than us.

Hope you enjoyed and let me know if you would like more of these story type blogs. Until Saturday...

Take Care

Yours, Nafiza 

Anger Issues and Management

Hi


Anger... Hhmmm....

Something not everyone experiences it. Also something people don't accept that they deal with it. That is me. I admit I have a bit of anger issues but I have been denying it for a long time. From the moment I realised, I had to take action and make changes to get rid of my anger or at least reduce it.


These are some of the things I do to improve my anger issues and you can try too.




Talk less

Often times, an argument or the feeling of anger starts from a conversation i.e. talking. If you feel the conversation is not heading well, stay quiet. "A meaningful silence is better than meaningless words". If you know me as an individual, you will notice I don't always talk a lot. This is because I like to maintain peace with people just in case.


Step away

If it did not work out and you are angry, step away from the situation. As a Muslim I can advice to perform ablution (wudu) and pray; turn to Allah swt. Another thing that helps with the situation is reading the Qur'an.

Talk to yourself

Yes, talk to yourself. Evaluate the situation or self-reflection. Whose fault was it? Yours? Hers/his? Was it serious or childish? Should you have got angry? Was it reasonable for you or the other person to react like that? What exactly made you angry and why? Things like this. It is also very important to think from the other person's shoes. Sometimes you won't get the answer by yourself. If so, speak to someone close, friend, family, etc. Second opinions help a lot in these situations. Beware from the ones who might lead you to the wrong decision/path. This is up to you to decide from their words or actions.

Let it out

As stupid it may sound, trust me in this one. Let it out. Cry it out or if you have a pillow or a doll (strange but still) at home, let the anger out in the object by doing whatever you want rather than letting it out on someone who probably cares for you. You will hurt their feelings when they are innocent and just care for you. If you are like me (a loner), write it out in a journal or diary.

Communication

Sometimes their actions did not intent to hurt you or make you angry. Lack of communication or misunderstanding makes it worse. Let the person know you are angry at them and explain why. How did they hurt you? Explain it. As far as I believe in humanity, the person won't hurt you and would apologise. If you are quiet, the person will not realise you are angry at them. However, stay in limit. Just because they hurt you it doesn't mean you can hurt them back. That improves nothing, it just makes everything worse. Again they may have not intended to hurt you.

Apologise, forgive and forget

After all the evaluations, if it is your fault, apologise and move on. If it is the other person's fault, forgive them and forget about it. Mistakes happen to the best of us and it is stupid to holding a grudge of it. Think that it never happen. Who likes haters or enemies c'mon!

Relax and meditate

Get rid of all the bad thoughts and just chill! Do things you find relaxing or enjoy alone or with good company.

Avoid people

No! Don't avoid everyone. Avoid people or conversations that make you angry. Change the topic. Do it nicely, don't be rude. Try to act maturely in the future and see if previous experiences have helped you cope with such situations in a better way.

Learn from the experiences

You are never too old to learn new things. Learn from the experiences of you being angry and use them in the future or now to make be a better you. You are awesome (I know you are) but there is always room for improvement. Who said people are perfect? Your imperfections make you perfect.


Start to take things lightheartedly


I hope this helps you if you are encountering such issues currently or in the future. If you would like to  speak to me further about this you can drop me an email: nafizasami@gmail.com . I will try to contact you with help as soon as possible.
Remember to check back every Wednesday and Saturday!

How do you deal with anger? Let me know in the comments!

Take care

Yours, Nafiza

7 Ingredient Quiche

Hey!!!


I was about to post something about anger issues. Then yesterday I made something and I could not resist from sharing it with my fellow friends. From the title you can guess it's a really quick and easy quiche, all from scratch and handmade. So, here we go!


Ingredients:



For Shortcrust pastry:

250g Flour

125g Butter (chilled and in small cubes)

Salt to taste

4 Tbsp Milk



For Filling:

5 Eggs

500ml Milk

Salt to taste

Any topping you fancy (optional)

Cheese of choice

Method:


1. In a big bowl, pour in the flour and add salt. Then add the butter cubes and rub the butter and flour together till you have crumbles.

2. Pour in the milk gradually and form a ball of dough without further kneading it.

3. Cover the dough in cling film (Saran Wrap for you Americans) and let it chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

4. Prepare the toppings. If they are vegetables, it is best to stir fry them lightly and let them cool.

5. In another bowl, pour the milk and crack the eggs in it and beat them together until well mixed.

6. Take the dough out and roll it in a thin sheet. Line your baking pan with the dough and let that chill in the fridge for another 20-30 minutes.

7. Take out the baking pan with the dough and bake it at 180 °C for 10 minutes.

8. Take the pan out of the oven and add the chosen toppings, followed by adding the egg-milk mixture. Finish the top by adding cheese.

9. Return that in the oven at the same temperature for 45-50 minutes or until it is solid when checked.

Ways to check: Shake the pan slightly and see if the centre is wobbling or is firm. If it wobbles, give it some more time and if it is firm it's done. Another way is to take a long wooden spoon and press it against the mixture. If it feels like liquid it's not done yet. If it's firm then it'd done.

10. Take it out and serve


It is really easy and quick to make. The most important thing, these ingredients are always available at home so it shows you can make amazing things from simple ingredients and impress your friends and family.

Here is how mine looked:

I added frozen mixed veg, peppers, onion, potatoes and a cheeky bit of grilled chicken and tuna. Yes chicken and tuna together does taste nice and no one notices it.

Hope you enjoyed it and make sure to share with me if you try this. Remember to come back every Wednesdays and Saturdays. You can guess what the post is about from my into this Saturday.

Take Care

Yours, Nafiza

Learning Bengali

Hello!


Hope you are well. This is a bit of a different post from my usual and I thought it would be quite fun for me to do. From my first ever post, I mentioned that I am Bengali by ethnicity. What people may not know is that not all Bengalis are Sylhetis and that includes me. What they may not know that a non-Sylheti is not always from Dhaka which is also me. I am from a region called Khulna. The following map will explain it all:

As you can see, the top right is Sylhet, the centre is Dhaka and the bottom left is my region called Khulna.

Anyway, I speak shuddho Bengali and I will teach you some basic Bengali stuff for fun or if you encounter someone Bengali and want to try it with them.

Greeting/Introduction

- Hello = Salam or Hello (there is no particular way of saying hello)

- Welcome = Shagotom

- How are you? = Kemon acho? (achis is very informal and achen is very formal)

- Are you okay/well? = Tumi bhalo acho? ( "  ")

- How is everyone? = Shobay kemon ache?

- I am good/well = Ami bhalo achi

- I am not good = Ami bhalo nei

- I am healthy/ill = Ami shusto asi/Ami oshusto

- My name is x = Amar naam x

- What is your name? = Tomar naam ki?

Understanding/Courtesy

- I (don't) understand = Ami bujhi (na)

- Do you understand? = Bujhte paro?

- I understand English/Bengali = Ami English/Bangla bujhi

- I don't understand English/Bengali = Ami English/Bangla bujhina

- I can speak English/Bengali = Ami English/Bangla bolte pari

- I can't speak English/Bengali = Ami English/Bangla bolte pari na

- Sorry = Maf kore dao

- Please = Doea kore

- Thank you = Dhonnobad

- Help me! = Amake shahajjo koro!

Like/Love

- I like you = Ami tomake pochondo kori

- I don't like you = Ami tomake pochondo kori na

- I love you = Ami tomake bhalo bashi

- I hate you = Ami tomake ghinna kori

- I like x = Amar x pochondo (x is anything you want to mention)

- I don't like x = Amar x pochondo na

- I love x = Ami x bhalo bashi

- I hate x = Ami x ghinna kori

Numbers

1 = Ek

2= Dui

3 = Tin

4 = Char

5 = Pach

6 = Soe

7 = Shat

8 = Aat

9 = Noe

10 = Dosh

11 = Egaro

12 = Baro

13 = Tero

14 = Choddo

15 = Ponero

16 = Sholo

17 = Shataro

18 = Atharo

19 = Unish

20 = Bish

Insults (mild)

- Evil = Shoetan

- Son of x = x- er baccha

- Dog = Kutto (female = kutti)

- Shut up = Chup

- I will break your x = Tumar x bhange dibani

Asha kori tomader ei post ta bhalo lagse. Amar duite bandhobider dhonnobad janate chai: Marjan ke ei idea deoar jonno ar Maliha, Spain theke, amake shahajjo korar jonno. More rekho prottek Budbar ar Shonibar fire ashar jonno notun post er jonni.

Translation:

I hope you enjoyed this post. I would like to thank two of my friends; Marjan for giving me this idea and Maliha from Spain for helping me. What language do you speak? Let me know below in the comments. Remember to check back every Wednesdays and Saturdays for new posts.

Take care

Yours, Nafiza

30 Goals for 30 days of Ramadan

Salam!!!


Ramadan Mubarak!!!

I hope you're having an amazing Ramadan and you're making most of it. As Ramadan is a month of worshiping more ans getting closer to Allah, I thought I should make a list of goals you can accomplish during this month and actually keep doing it during the rest of the years. Here we go!

1. Fast (as long as you're fit to)

2. Pray Salah

3. Pray taraweeh

4. Pray tahajjud

5. Pray voluntary prayers (nawafil)

6. Read Qur'an (hopefully finish it at least once)

7. Hijab/cover

8. Learn hadith

9. Give to charity

10. Help/volunteer in charity

11. Help other people

12. Call family/friends to know how they're doing

13. Be nice/polite to people

14. Invite people for iftar

15. Give iftar to neighbours

16. Attend iftar dawahs

17. Meditate and relax

18. Make dua for family, friends and people around the World who are suffering (Ummah)

19. Ask for forgiveness to Allah and others

20. Do not badmouth people (geebat)

21. Spend your time wisely (less entertainment and social media)

22. Eat healthy (please not pakoras)

23. Do things with a good intention

24. Eat Suhoor (at least a couple of dates, a glass of milk or some nuts)

25. Take plenty of water during eating times

26. Stay rested and calm

27. Forgive and Forget

28. Visit mosque for prayers (if possible)

29. Celebrate Eid Ul-Fitr responsibly  and properly at the end of Ramadan

30. Follow these goals for the rest of the year and not only during Ramadan

Hope you enjoyed it. I kept it short because I know it is a chore to read big amounts of text in such state and will try to keep the posts short through the month. What goals do you have for this holy month?? Let me know below!

Take care

Yours, Nafiza

Basic Food Recipes

Hey!

The other day someone texted in a group chat asking how to make tea. Now, this made me realise that not everyone can cook and I started to feel bad. Fear not, because I am going to list some basic foods and how to make them. If you are someone that can't cook, I am not making fun of you. This is to help you! Think about this, you can surprise your mum by making one of these and you can make it for yourself too.

1. Rice

Basmati:

Take 2 cups of rice grains and wash thoroughly 2-3 times with water. Put 4 cups of water in the rice grains. Put it on the stove in medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes. After 10-15 minutes, check that the rice is soft and cooked. If it is cooked and water has dried off, turn off the stove and cover it. If you have a rice cooker, just put the rice and water and click the "cook" button and done.

Brown (mota chal):

Take 2 cups of rice grains and wash thoroughly 2-3 times with water. Make sure you use a large pot. Fill up the pot with water almost to the top and cook in high heat for 30-40 minutes. Check if the rice is cooked after 30-40 minutes. If cooked, drain the excess water, put the rice back in the pot and put it back in the stove in low heat for 3-4 minutes so excess water is dried. Turn off the stove.

2. Tea/Coffee

Water:

Boil a cup of water. When the water is bubbling, add the tea bag or coffee grains. With tea bag, let it release the colour for 30-40 seconds and turn off the stove and serve with sugar or 1/2 tsp lemon/lime juice if desired. With coffee grains, immediately turn off the stove and serve with sugar if desired.

Milk:

Take a cup of milk and boil it. When the milk is boiled, add the tea bag and let it release its colour for 4-5 minutes. Turn off the stove and serve with sugar if desired. If coffee, then add the coffee grains, dissolve the coffee grains and turn off the stove and serve with sugar if desired.

3. Omelette

Crack an egg in a small bowl. Add a pinch salt and pepper (we add chopped onion and green chillies) and whisk. Turn the stove in medium-high heat. Heat up a pan and add 2 tbsp of oil and heat it up. Add the whisked egg in the heated pan and cook it for 2-3 minutes. Turn the omelette over and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan and turn off the stove. Serve!

4. Chapati/Paratha

Take 3 cups of chapati flour (atta) in a bowl (if you are making parathas, add 2-3 tbsp of oil or butter and knead). Add 1-1.5 cups of water. Add the water bit by bit and keep kneading until the dough is soft. Separate the dough into smaller dough balls. Roll them out into thin circles (if you're making parathas, roll them out with a pinch of oil). Heat the pan dry and fry without oil (unless it is paratha, which you should use a bit  of oil or butter when almost done) until cooked. Serve with curry or omelette.


5. Fried chicken

Marinade your chicken in salt, pepper, lemon juice and any spice you may fancy like paprika. Let it rest for a few hours. Crack an egg and whisk. Pour flour in a plate and add salt, paprika and chilli powder and mix together. Coat your chicken pieces with egg and then coat with flour and let it rest. Heat oil to deep fry. Fry the chicken depending on the size of it. Breast pieces should take no more than 10 minutes and drumsticks around 15-20 minutes. Drain excess oil with kitchen tissue. Serve!

6. Jhal muri (spiced Bombay mix)

Chop onions, green chillies, tomatoes and coriander in small pieces. In a big bowl add Bombay mix (chanachur/sanasur), puffed rice (muri), chopped veggies and mustard oil. Mix them together. Serve!

7. Pakora

Grate aubergine, carrot, potato, or any other veggies you may like. Chop onion and green chillies. In a big bowl add the veggies, onion, green chillies, chickpea flour (besan), turmeric powder (haldi) , red chilli powder (lal mirch/moris), cumin powder (jeera), onion-garlic-ginger paste, salt, baking powder and mix. Gradually add cold water and mix until you have a semi-runny batter with the veggies. Heat oil to deep fry. With your hands, scoop out a bit of veggie mix from the batter and carefully drop it in the hot oil. Fry them until golden brown and drain excess oil with kitchen tissue. Serve!

I hope you enjoyed it and it actually helps you. Is there any other food you would like to know how to make it. Let me know in the comments!

Take Care

Yours, Nafiza

When You Are A Guest In A Bengali House

Yo!

If you remember from my post called "When guests come over in a Bengali house", I said and I quote " I will do another post about attending a dawat if someone invites us so stay tuned!" . So, here I am making a follow up post about the same family but this time I am the guest. It is a hassle to be a guest and you will see why. This is what is involved in being a guest:

1. Getting Invited

It has been a while since they came to your house and they call your parents to chat and compliment how amazing it was to see the family and other shenanigans. Not only they call to compliment everything, but they invite you over to their house according to when they can manage it best. Usually it is agreed on a Saturday or Sunday, because obviously work and school.

2. Buying Gifts

It's hard to decide what to get when the lady of the house likes healthy food, has 2 kids and is a typical Bengali. Since she's healthy the choice is a variety of fruits,but that is not as formal. Since she has 2 kids, the choice could be chocolates, crisps and other junk food, but that will only benefit the kids and it is not healthy. Last choice is Indian sweets that almost everyone loves them, and a little bit doesn't harm anyone. So at the end we took Indian sweets and other family members took fruits and junk food.

3. Getting Ready

Not going to lie, it took me 1.5-2 hours to get ready and that was the quickest so far. There are so many things to keep in mind while getting ready when you are a girl. "Shall I wear a long suit or an abaya?" "Is eyeliner a bit too much?" "Urgh the scarf doesn't match the dress!". For guys, they wear a shirt and a pair of jeans and done! Maybe it's just me because my mum takes no more than half an hour.

4. Going To The House

It is a new place so someone (i.e. me in my family) needs to find the way in the GPS or google maps to get there. Not a big deal but when you're in the car, you need to pray that you don't say the wrong turn. If you do, start praying for your soul because the evil stares will start anytime soon... I feel like every time we go to a new house, my dad always drives around the same place 2-3 times because he can't find the door and obviously "my GPS" can't show exactly where the door is. At the end by the grace of the Lord you reach there and they welcome you (if you were back home, you'd be welcomed with flowers and garland or "phool ka mala"), you take your shoes off, get in, seat down, etc.

5. Food

You reach at a time when it is lunchtime or dinner so they will eventually serve the food. The more dishes there are, the longer they will take to serve because they have to heat it up all. Unspoken rule of thumb: Men and children under 15 eat first, then it's the rest of people left. As a sign of respect, a member of the host must seat with the guests otherwise "it doesn't look good". You already have an opinion that the food and their care won't be as good but you are wrong struggle to accept that. Kidding, they treat and serve you so well you can't complain. The dishes won't be like what you are used to eating everyday but it is not bad. "Washing plates". If you are Asian and or at least Bengali then you know that the host cannot allow the guest to wash the plates and as a guest you have to keep insisting to wash your own plate as respect.

6. Chatting

Once the eating and other thing associated with it is done, men will be in a group in a room (living room mostly), women will be in another group in another room (mostly a bedroom) and the kids and other people that do not fit into the men's or women's group in another room.

Now, I am in a stage where I don't fit with women yet because I'm almost 20 and they speak boring stuff and you don't care and they are "doctors of each other". So, naturally I have to be with the kids and I don't fit with them either. I am not lying, it was so awkward because the kids couldn't speak English properly just yet and Bengali was not that perfect either, so they were speaking in Italian among themselves. This leaves me and my brother clueless. The guy tried to ask some questions and so did I but the silence killed. What did I do? Catch up on social media duhh! Some of the kids want to be within themselves but one of the elder hosts will always try to integrate everyone. ¬ ¬

At the end we went to the park. This park:

This is the Ilford War Memorial Gardens. It is really nice and calm, do visit it. It is near Newbury Park Station.

7. Snacks

Normally you get snacks around the evening if you went for lunch. It is either very light or unlikely to get snacks when you go for dinner. You get sweets, fruits, snacks, tea, coffee, etc. Not much of a big deal. Kids get more stuff like chocolates or other junk fried food. Depending how full you are or what state you are in, you will try a little bit of everything. I tried a bit of the Indian sweets and a bit of mango because that is what I prefer after a heavy meal but in very small quantities just to change the taste buds. The snacking only happens if the host is bothered to serve anything else. Very few people in my experience will just get away by serving tea or coffee.

8. Goodbye

This is the most annoying part of the whole process. I am serious, I think I have my dad say "okay let's leave now" at least 3 times and have not moved until probably the last time. Before getting ready to leave, everyone, as in men, women and probably the kids, get together in the living room so everyone has met each other and known each other. They discuss about future meetings and tell the other guests to come over to our house and etc. Everyone says bye to each other before wearing the shoes and coats in addition to some new conversation topics. Again, everyone says bye while wearing them. And again everyone says bye to each other when standing outside the door and finally we leave! It is awkward.


Most of the stuff is awkward as a guest and finally it is over. P.S. afterwards we went to my aunts place to chill and watch the Champions League final.

I hope you liked the part 2 of the other post. Do you want to know what happens in second or third meetings? Let me know! Also, does this happen in your family as well or I'm alone in this? Let me know in the comments below!

Take care

Yours, Nafiza