Treat yourself right during menstrual cramps

Assalamualaikum,

Hai everyone! Hope you are doing all great today. Hari ni bangun pagi-pagi mood ke laut sikit. You know, when you are at THAT time of the month, your hormones change very drastically. Jangan terkejut kalau sekarang boleh senyum-senyum, within a split second tiba-tiba je bole sentap tak tentu pasal. O_o

Okay, let's cut the crappy part. Kalau nak layan memang tak habis. Haa, meh sini nak cerita yang hepi-hepi. Siapa yang pernah duduk Australia mesti tau satu kedai jewellery nama Michael Hill. This renowned jeweller only operates in Australia (the headquarters), New Zealand, United States, and Canada.

So, boleh imagine tak, kedai tu biasanya dekat dalam mall yang kalau kita lalu mampu tengokkkk je dari luar. Nak masuk memang tak la! Nak membeli jauh sekali. Jarang sangat ada apa-apa dalam tu yang harga mampu milik untuk orang-orang kebanyakan ni. Kalau ada pun mungkin sikit sangat pilihannya. Nak beli silver pun tersemput-semput, diamond tu jauh sekali la. Boleh tengok je dari jauh sambil kelip-kelip mata kenapa banyak sangat angka ada dekat tag tu.

Tetapi!! sempena Half-Yearly Sale yang sedang melanda Australia sekarang, we are lucky because Michael Hill is being so nice to also take part in the biggest sale of the year. Tiap-tiap hari masa tengah drive mesti dengar iklan dekat radio pasal ni. Mana la hati tak tergoda. Orang perempuan ni kalau dapat seketul candy ring pun boleh senyum sampai telinga, inikan pulak kalau dapat Michael Hill, confirm tido sambil tersenyum. :)

The promotional items

Okay, dah cerita panjang-panjang ni macam ada makna ja kan??? hahaha. Well, yes, I've got myself something from this store today!! Yay! Tapi I tak beli pun gold ke, diamond ke, atau apa-apa jenis batu permata lain. I was actually looking for something that I still don't have, worth buying, and meaningful at the same time.

So, dengan meletakkan bajet yang tidaklah tinggi mana, I bought a silver anklet with seven lucky rings for me! Thank you Michael Hill for cheering my crappy mood up! Now that I have a strong reason to smile, I will wear the smile for the whole day! Oh yeah, at least now I have something yang boleh dijadikan kenangan sempena beberapa tahun I tinggal dekat Australia ni..:D

My 7-lucky-ring anklet

Each ring stands for something different as they are:

1. Long life
2. Good friends
3. Pure love
4. Health
5. Wealth
6. Peace
7. Happiness

My three year-old bowling superstar

Assalamualaikum semua,

Allow me to mumble a little bit here just to kill the time. I was so sleepy just now I almost fall asleep at work. Ke dah terlelap tapi I yang tak perasan eh? Macam tak biasa pulak terlelap seminit dua sambil mouse dekat tangan sedar-sedar je entah apa-apa number aku tekan. kihkih. Bad bad Amirah. :p

Sekarang I dah mula packing barang untuk ship balik Malaysia pertengahan July nanti. Tapi barang je yang balik dulu. Tuan punya barang balik tahun depan. InsyaAllah. This time I will send everything directly to my hometown, in Penang. Somehow I can't wait to set place at my own house. And at the same time I'm sad because finally the time has almost arrived. The time when I will leave my parents' house. For goods.

I guess that's a normal cycle that I need to go through kan? Semua orang pun kena macam tu. Sampai bila nak duduk kat celah ketiak mak bapak kan? When the time come, I need to make our own way yet still need to take care of them regardless any type of hurdles I am facing in life. :)

Eh, ngantuk-ngantuk ni layan video Adam main bowling best jugak boleh gelak sorang-sorang.hehe. Tapi ni boling kinect tu la bukan yang betol-betol tu. He's really good you know!! Spare strike semua dia dapat. Tapi masa dia baling slow, bola tu pun golek slow-slow dalam skrin tu, then I suruh dia tiup bagi laju, dia tiup!! hahaha. Sorry Adam, Aunty Miya buli you!! hahaha. :p

Okay now that I am wide awake, I shall continue with my work then. I have a long list of to-do-things, and sadly none of them is complete yet. T___T  Tepuk-tepuk pipi kembung tu bagi mata terbukak luas sikit. Dah la mata sepet, lepas tu mengantuk pulak, memang la asyik nak tertutup jekkk! haha. :p

A family that can bond together will be a family that is united forever

Assalamualaikum,

How's everyone's Saturday so far? Mesti ramai yang keluar berjalan-jalan hari ni kan? The weather is lovely here with a lot of sunlight enhancing the blue sky. Perfect for outing but it might be too late if I want to go out now. Tak sampai sejam lagi dah nak masuk maghrib pun. It's okay, maybe next time.

Ohh, I want to share something that caught my attention today. Tadi masa tunggu bas untuk datang ke uni, there was this cute little family waited with me at the bus stop near my house. A nice couple with a son and a daughter. Sambil tunggu bas dalam 15minit tu diorang main hide and seek sama-sama. Comel kan? hehe.

The mommy was team up with the son while the daddy was together with the daughter. So, masa team daddy tutup mata, team mommy pulak cari tempat untuk menyorok. Padahal bukan menyorok tang mana pun, that boy (I heard them calling him Oliver), pergi menyorok belakang mak dia je. Yang si kakak buat-buat tak nampak, yang si adik ketawa terkekek-kekek dekat belakang mak dia ingat semua orang tak nampak dia menyorok dekat mana. =__='

Looking at them made me realize that's how a family should be. Zaman sekarang ni I rasa terlampau banyak alat bantuan peribadi sampai bonding di antara family pun makin lama makin longgar. Tak payah banyak, mobile phone yang canggih pun dah cukup untuk jadi culprit. And I think I'm not excepted! :(

Fenomena sekarang ni rasanya masing-masing sebok dengan gadjet masing-masing. Si ayah dengan iPad mengadap facebook, si ibu dengan iPhone mengupdate Twitter, anak lelaki khusyuk main game dalam PSP, yang anak perempuan pulak sibuk dengar lagu dalam iPod. Bila masa nak berborak manja atau main hide and seek sama-sama? Memang tak lah kan. huhu.

I think that's the value that I need to bring up when I have a family later on. Tak best kan rasanya kalau salah seorang sedang berkomunikasi, yang lain pulak tak tumpukan perhatian sibuk buat hal masing-masing. Kalau orang dulu-dulu mesti dah anggap biadab dah pun. huhu. Tak elok lah kalau macam tu kan? 

So, I think I got to improve myself first from now in order to have a better quality family bonding later in future. I will start practising to give my undivided attention and listen carefully when someone shares something with me. Let's do that together yea! :)

Eexample of family activity that help to build closeness among family members
[photo courtesy]

Dear wind, stop scaring me please..

Assalamualaikum,

Happy beautiful Friday morning everyone! What's up with the longgg silence huh? Diam seminggu tiba-tiba muncul balik dengan penuh perasaan gembira apa kes? hahaha. For your information I'm working on something at the moment. Nanti kalau dah ready I will share it here okayy? :)

Hari ni macam biasa lah, lepas dah siap solat subuh semua, dalam pukul 7am macam tu, I terus tunggu untuk sesi bercerita dengan tunang yang jauh di mata dekat di hati. Nasib dia la kena tahan telinga sebab dapat I yang suka bercerita. Punya la potpetpotpet, sampai terlelap. Tengah bercakap pun mengantuk. Boleh??? T____T

I was so excited when I see bright sunlight breaking through the day early this morning. But the excitement didn't last that long though. There were a series of speedy winds came through. Scary okay kalau dengar bunyi angin kuat. Kalau tengah berjalan kaki rasa macam boleh melayang. Tapi best jugak kalau boleh terbang kan? Dear angin kencang yang gagah perkasa, please bring me back to Malaysia now, I want to have nasik lemak sambal kerang and teh tarik for breakfast. ;)

A video taken from my workspace.

Kalau dengar bunyi lagi scary tau

But I cannot simply use the strong winds as a reason for not coming to work. Angin ka ribut ka, kerja tetap kerja. Ada siapa-siapa nak buat charity menulis thesis on my behalf? Tak cukup kaki tangan dah ni. hukhuk. Bak kata Laili rasa macam nak upah kerani tolong buat writing. I second that opinion very much! Anyway, Laili is a good friend of mine who has submitted her thesis few months ago and now waiting for her results. Best kannn macam tu?? huhu.

Bakal Dr. Norlaili Ahmad. Muda lagi kannn??
Anyway, ini pelantar lepak di dalam uni.
Kadang-kadang ada orang lepak main music dekat bawah pokok tu..:)

Cuddle chemically with my mum is the best stress relief

Assalamualaikum wbt,

How's everyone doing today? Seronok la tu dah nak masuk weekend kan? Mesti semua orang dah siap plan macam-macam apa nak kena buat hujung minggu ni. Seronoknya. huhu. While there is no more weekends for me here, all I have to do is to keep working, working and working until I complete all my research things. Yeah, I know it sounds boring! But I treat that as the most interesting thing happening to me now~

You know what, I woke up this morning feeling like eating one big plate of sushi on my own. Entah kenapa mimpi sushi ke apa malam tadi, bangun-bangun terus rasa nak makan sangat-sangat. So, I siap laju-laju, terus pergi kedai Okuma Sushi & Korean kat dalam uni, opted for salmon & avocado, and indulged myself into at least half of the pack at one go. Hambik kau 8 ketul sushi bersama salmon dan avocado berenang-renang di dalam perut sekarang. Now that my tummy is happy, I'm also very happy. :)

Salmon & avocado sushi. Nyam nyam! :)
[photo courtesy]

Shortly after that, I called my mum and talked to her for almost one hour. I don't know why but everytime after I talked to her, the feeling is so good. Padahal bukan cakap apa sangat pun. Cerita pasal adik-adik, mak pergi mana, mak makan apa, mak buat apa? All that made me feel really close to her. I literally agree with the fact that mother's voice has the same effect as her hug. Thank you to those who invented mobile phone and skype! I use both technologies to the maximum all my time abroad.

Speaking of which, I left my iPhone at home today! And I started to miss that valuable of mine already. Huwaaaa! As far as I could remember, this is my first time away from my mobile phone this long. It's okay, I challenge myself not to care too much about that. It's only a mobile phone remember? Not that you left your nose at home and walking around with people staring at your face without your nose. Itu baru lah scary. Missing your mobile phone for one whole day won't give you any harm, Amirah. So, cheers!

p/s: But still, it is not just an ordinary mobile phone. It is more or less like a small, rectangular box that keeps all my treasures. :)

Our today determines our future generation

Assalamualaikum,

First of all, pardon me for the long pause as I was too busy with my research works. Tapi dalam dok sibuk-sibuk tu pun sempat jugak blogwalking hari-hari. Cuma tak sempat nak update cerita sendiri je lah. Rindu jugak sebenarnya nak menulis dalam blog sendiri. Eh, boleh pulak camtu? hehe. 

Somehow I realize that I do have a strong passion in writing. But mind you, writing here is totally not the same as writing my thesis. Menulis dalam blog adalah sangat santai dan menenangkan. Menulis PhD thesis pulak adalah satu tekanan perasaan yang kalau tidak dibendung dengan berhemah, takut lama-lama I bertukar jadi Amirah Einstein. Ohh no, that sounds scary! ;O

To those who already knew me in person, they will know how chatty I am. Bahasa lembutnya friendly. Bahasa tak berapa lembutnya talkative. Hmm, I wonder what did my mum fed when I was little? Tak kira la orang yang baru kenal ke dah lama kenal ke, I am easy to get along with.  

However, if you find this personality of mine annoying, just come straight in front of my face and tell me to stop, in a nice way. But please, don't shout, will you? I hate it when people express their anger through rough and loud words. I found that very rude and uncivilized. Tak salah kan kalau kita tegur baik-baik? Yang ditegur tak terasa hati, yang menegur pun tak dapat darah tinggi..:)

I was raised in a very soft spoken family. Maksud soft spoken di sini adalah, dilarang keras sama sekali menggunakan perkataan yang kasar di kalangan adik beradik, apatah lagi mak dan bapak. Cuba bayangkan, cakap aku engkau pun tak pernah. Macam mana nak bergaduh kasar-kasar? Tak gengster la bercakar adik beradik cakap saya awak kan? hehe. So, I memang sangat lah sensitif kalau kena marah, lagi-lagi kalau I yakin tak bersalah. I will definitely stand up defending myself, but in a polite and respectful manner.

I believe, who we are today will determine our generation in future. As for me, I follow almost everything what my parents show me. They never used harsh words, they didn't fight in front of us, hence, they forbid us from fighting in front of them. I am who I am today because I learn everything exquisitely from them. If possible, I would love to do the same thing to my future children. I want them to grow up well-bred. Sejuk perut ibu mengandung kalau dapat anak yang bersopan santun berbudi bahasa kan? Eh eh terberangan pulak. kihkih. :p

Introducing my parents.
I love them more than everything.

Witnessing the transits of planet Venus across the sun all over from Australia

Hello Venusian and Martian!

Here's a quick update on one remarkable thing I experienced in University of Wollongong this morning. I witnessed the transits of venus across the disk of the sun. And to make it more interesting, these transits are among the rarest of predictable planetary allignments and only happen in pairs of 8 years for every 105 years.

See the the big orange circle and the black dot?
The black dot is planet Venus  travelling across the sun

Boleh bayangkan tak, I tengok peredaran planet Venus merentasi matahari pada tahun 2012, at the age of 27 years old. If I want to experience such celestial phenomena again, I gotta wait for another 105 years, and by that time, I will be 132 years old. haha. Nobody lives that long. But we can't really tell though. If the Almighty says so, who knows? :)

The telescope used to see the transits

Okay, back to the story, your location determines whether and when you can see the 2012 transit of Venus. As for Eastern Australia, we are lucky that the entire transits are predicted to be visible for a rough five to six hours. But too bad the weather is not on our side today. Baru je nampak peredaran for a few minutes, there comes the clouds blocking our vision and both the sun and venus become all invisible. And it keeps happening over and over again. 

But it's okay, as long as I've got chance to witness the phenomena, that could be one of the most interesting experiences I ever had here. The uni provides us with two giant telescopes and everybody is allowed to peek through them. The experts are also there to provide us with further information about this whole phenomena. From zero knowledge, now I'm proud that I have a little bit of understanding, and I am interested to dig more about this.

An expert Professor from School of Physics.
He explains about this whole phenomena very well.

Kak Fish in action

This is what the telescope shows us.
The black dot is clearly visible if the clouds aren't thick

We are two proud Malaysian watching the live transits all over from Australia.

Ps: Bila cerita pasal planet Venus tiba-tiba teringat buku Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. Now that the Venusian is visible from the Earth, I wonder when will the Martians be?

Coffee the Australian way

Hello everybody!

Meet my girlfriends
You'll find them everywhere in this blog. haha.

I just got back from a short coffee date with my dear girlfriends at Rush Cafe. Hmm, I noticed Rush has been our favourite place for meeting since the day it existed in 2011. Believe it or not, I was not a coffee person only until I came to Australia in 2009. Their coffee culture changes my insight about drinking coffee and despite the fact that brewed coffee tastes better than the one we have at home, I have found my passion for it just here. 

But still, that doesn't make me a coffee person. Minum seminggu dua cawan ada hati nak cakap coffee mana sedap atau tak. hahaha. I normally go for hot chocolate and only when I feel like I want some chemical relief in the morning to prevent me from getting sleepy during the day, then I will opt for the lightest coffee like latte or mocha. Tu pun minum sikit-sikit sampai petang baru habis. haha.

All cafes usually have a huge coffee range from the lightest to what so called perfect strongness like espresso, latte, cappuccino, mocha, flat white, long black, with a great variety of flavours like hazelnut, caramel, mint, butterscotch, vanilla, chai and so on. And one more thing, the baristas have quite the showmanship as they normally do some cool tricks very quickly and precisely. 

Eh, ada sedikit kemusykilan di sini. Kenapa baristas biasanya kacak kacak ye? Bijak sungguh marketing strategy. Letak yang yang charming serve coffee corak-corak sambil senyum wishing you a good day, haruslah semua orang nak datang lagi. Kihkihkih. Alamak, pecah rahsia. Tak tak, tunang saya yang paling kacak. Betol tak tipu. hahaha. :p

Mocha : : Rush

Hot Chocolate : : Out for Lunch

Hazelnut Latte : : Panizzi 

Okay, that's all about coffee. Hopefully it helps to make me concentrate on my work longer at least for today. Anyway, thanks for the sticky date pudding Kak Fish! Now I need to drink a lot and a lot of plain water to naturalize all the "healthy" ingredients in the caramel sauce. Ohh my, baru imagine dia punya sedap pun dah boleh meleleh balik air liur. Hua! 

Sambutan ulangtahun di Kota Sydney

Assalamualaikum,

Happy Sunday morning everyone! Hmm, looks like the weather is not treating Wollongong very well since yesterday. Hujan dari pagi tadi sampai lah sekarang. Winter ohh winter. Walaupun dah masuk musim sejuk tahun yang ke empat di sini, tapi I tetap tak dapat nak biasakan diri. Maka bermulalah episod berselubung dalam sleeping bag tiap tiap masa. Huwaaa!

Dua malam lepas masa skype dengan my sister, Huda, dia cakap, "Kakak nampak macam ulat bulu lah!" Mana taknya, I zipped myself in the warm sleeping bag and got me all covered from the tip of my toe up to the top of my head. Tinggal muka je yang nampak. I was exactly like a giant carterpillar yang boleh bersuara sambil keluarkan tangan sikit sikit minum air milo panas dekat sebelah. Tapi ni ulat bulu yang cute tau, bukan ulat yang gatal tuuu. hehehe. :p

Anyway, that's not the point of my update. Cadangnya nak cerita pasal benda lain. Tiba tiba cakap pasal sejuk pun dah boleh panjang bukan main. kuikui. Typical Amirah! Before I proceed, this entry is specially dedicated to my beloved girlfriend comes a loyal reader of mine, Aimy. As requested, here's a special entry to share with you. Walaupun jauh di mata, tapi Aimy tetap di hati kami semua. Ceewah!

Now lets proceed with the whole story. Jumaat lepas I pergi tengok Vivid Sydney sambil celebrate birthday husband Kak Fish and Fatin dekat sana. Lucky you guys dapat celebrate birthday di Kota Sydney bersaksikan lampu lampu warna warni yang cantik tu tau! So, happy belated birthday to Azeem and happy advanced birthday to Fatin! 

Birthday girl with her birthday cake

Kak Fish and hubby

Homemade birthday cake with Barbie theme. Pink purple and white.
Kudos Kak Fish!

Azeem's birthday cake.
Tahun depan buat kek bentuk drum la pulak kot akak! hahaha. 

As for Vivid Sydney, I personally think that the event is a little bit overrated. Mungkin I expect too much from that event especially bila dia buat dekat tempat yang menjadi mercu tanda negara Australia. Too bad it wasn't. All in all, yeah, the show was great, but I believe they can do a lot better. :)

Sydney Opera House
[photo courtesy Pai Theartsoul]

One of my personal favourite
[photo courtesy Pai Theartsoul]

Walaupun perjalanan pergi ke Sydney malam tu agak mencabar, dengan umat manusia yang terlampau ramai, hujan renyai renyai pulak tu, but everything was well paid off with a very beautiful memory to each and everyone of us. This year marks our final year in Australia, so lets fill up the few remaining months with lifetime memorable moments okay! :)

Fatin ~ Mira ~ Kak Fish
We missed you Aimy!

The Gong family
[photo courtesy Pai Theartsoul]