Jom borak-borak kosong sekali-sekala

Assalamualaikum,

How are you guys doing? Harapnya semua baik-baik belaka. Hari ni I saje nak borak-borak kosong. Asyik tunjuk gambar jalan-jalan je bosan pulak. Sekali-sekala meh tukar mood bercerita pulak ye. Esok-esok kalau rajin I sambung kongsi pengalaman di London dengan Amsterdam okay? :)

My day has been very productive today. Bangun pagi (sebelum pukul 12 tu kira pagi lagi kan? hikhik), lepas tu hampir seharian mengadap kereta. Sejak lebih 4 bulan lepas pakai kereta ni, satu apa pun I tak penah check. haha. Ye la kononnya sebab tak pi jalan jauh mana pun tu yang rileks je tu.

Tapi sejak balik dari bercuti, rasa macam tak sedap hati pulak kalau tak service. Sudahnya,buat muka kesian mintak tolong membe kat sini tengokkan. haha. Nak hanta mekanik mati la sebab servis charge kat sini semua mahal-mahal. Jadi, apa guna ada kawan-kawan kalau tak tolong-menolong ye dak? Tima kasih Kerul!! Jasamu dikenang!! :)

Eh Kerul lagi. Dulu mekanik laptop, ni mekanik kereta pulok. Apa nak buat, Spannarman dah tarak, kita pinjam Kerul la tolong jadi bidan terjun. hakhak. Habis semua digodeknya, tukar lampu depan, lampu break, dan segala jenis lampu lagi lah senang cerita. Pastu tukar minyak hitam dengan minyak gear box pun dia jugak. 

You know what, ni la first time I tengok betol-betol orang service kereta tu macam mana. Selama ni bawak kereta pergi Proton centre tak pun uncle belakang rumah, pass kunci kat depa, lepas tu duduk goyang kaki sambil baca majalah. Tungu barang sejam dua, ambik kunci balik, then bye-bye. Macam gitulah rutin selama beberapa tahun pakai kereta sendiri.

Tapi kali ni, mula dengan check semua benda yang nak kena tukar, pilih barang dekat kedai, sampai lah ke proses tukar semua benda alah tu, I tengok sendiri. Tapi haruslah bukan I yang tergolek bawah kereta tu tukar minyak hitam. Memang takdak gaya langsung silap-silap cara pegang spannar pun salah. Setakat pasang skru seketul dua tu layak la itupun terhegeh-hegeh. hahaha.

Tapi alhamdulillah, semua siap siang tadi jugak. Total damage adalah $100.85. Tu termasuk semua-semua dah la tu, 3 jenis mentol, engine oil, oil filter and gearbox oil. Perghh kagum dengan diri sendiri sebab reti sebut semua ni hahaha. Now pakcik mekanik cannot kelentong me about all these car service things. :p

So, I think cukup lah I membebel untuk hari ni. Malam ni nak tido awal. Esok nak pegi Canberra buat kali yang ke-8 kot. hahaha. Saje je last pegi Floriade Festival sempena musim bunga dekat sana plus bawak Cik Mek Fatin jalan-jalan ke ibu negara Australia ni. Okay till I see you again in the next entry. Tata. 

This was taken during Floriade Festival in 2009. Omg, that's me 3 years ago. :)

My conference presentation in Loughborough, United Kingdom

Assalamualaikum,

Hai! Now I think I need to tell more about my main agenda to London. Takut nanti orang ingat I pi berjalan pulak padahal sebenarnya most of my time abroad was spent in Loughborough University, Leicester, United Kingdom. Yang selebihnya baru pergi melencong ke tempat-tempat lain. Itu haruslah kan. hehe.

I attended an international conference, Nonlinear Waves in Fluids 2012 that has taken place at Loughborough University from 11-14 September 2012. All in all, the presentation went well, Alhamdulillah. Guess what, I was the last presenter of the last day of the conference. Nervous gila menunggu banyak hari tau tak. T___T

My presentation. Alhamdulillah semua okay.
Eh eh nampak kepala Roger Grimshaw pulak, :p

One of the participants considered this conference as a luxurious one. Mewah bukan bermakna tempat tinggal mewah atau makanan  mewah, tapi pengisian yang sangat-sangat mewah. No parallel session at all. Semua orang berpeluang dengar presentation orang lain sebab tak ada satu pun sesi yang bertindih. And out of all the presenters, hanya 10% je yang students. Cuak gila ohhh!! ;O

Conference dinner, Yang hujung belah kanan tu lecturer dari Institute Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia.
Selamba je I bantai pakai jumper pi conference dinner. kahkahkah. :p

Apa yang paling best, conference ni dihadiri oleh kebanyakan pakar-pakar dalam area Nonlinear Waves in Fluids ni. Can you imagine, selama ni I baca buku diorang, tiba-tiba kali ni jumpa author depan mata. Serious rasa sangat-sangat teruja. Kalau ada bawak buku diorang masa tu confirm terus mintak signature. haha.

Roger Grimshaw. Penyumbang besar di dalam area Nonlinear Waves.
Sebut je nama dia confirm semua orang kenal.

Mark Ablowitz. Pakar dari University of Colorado USA.
I have been reading his book since I started my PhD 3 years ago.

Karl Helfrich (Oceanographic Institution, USA) and John Boyd (University of Michigan, USA)
They are extremely humble I tell you. :)

Sepanjang conference tu berlangsung, I duduk dekat rumah my old friend from UTM Skudai. Kami belajar sama-sama dari foundation, undergraduate and masters. Now Anne dah ada anak sorang pun, and dia tengah buat PhD also in similar area with me. Thank you for your hospitality Anne. Seronok tengok life Anne dengan family kat sana.

Loughborough city centre. Sempat lari pegi kejap masa lunch break 2 jam

Loughborough Uni main building. Cantik kannn???
Very English style siap dengan water fountain lagi.

Standard lah tu kalau datang melawat universiti tak amik gamba depan main gate mesti tak sah, hehe.

Sekarang tengah autumn kat sana. Tak lama lagi togel la pokok-pokok ni.haha.
Anyway tu anak bujang Anne. Ammar. He's very adorable. I miss him already.

So that's all I could share about my conference presentation in Loughborough Uni. I pergi sana di bawah tajaan Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi dan School of Mathematics University of Wollongong. Kalau nak harap pergi sendiri rasanya memang idak le. Memamg mahal sungguh perbelanjaan. Mujur ada orang nak sponsor. Thanks to both parties. :)

Short visits to Etihad Stadium, Emirates Stadium, and Stamford Bridge Stadium

Assalamualaikum!

Hai semua! As promised, sekarang I nak share stories about my visit to the other 3 stadiums around London and Manchester. Yang jauh-jauh tu tak dapat la sebab tak cukup masa. Secara kebetulan, ke empat-empat stadium adalah tuan rumah kepada kelab-kelab yang mendahului carta Barclay's Premier League 2012/13.

Amboi cakap macam paham sangat. Padahal bukannya tau apa sangat pun. Ni pun buat research sikit baru berani share kat sini. Kalau salah tulis nanti takut kena belasah dengan kipas susah mati kelab-kelab tertentu. hikhik. So I went to the home stadiums of the four highlighted teams; Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford, Etihad Stadium and Emirates Stadium. So, let us check the top 8 teams leading the league at the moment! :)

POS	CLUB	P	W	D	L	GF	PTS
1	Chelsea	5	4	1	0	9	13
2	Manchester United	5	4	0	1	12	12
3	Everton	5	3	1	1	9	10
4	West Bromwich Albion	5	3	1	1	7	10
5	Arsenal	5	2	3	0	9	9
6	Fulham	5	3	0	2	12	9
7	Manchester City	5	2	3	0	10	9
8	Tottenham Hotspur	5	2	2	1	8	8

Etihad Stadium (Manchester City)

I personally think that this is the most beautiful stadium among all. Kawasan yang sangat besar dan selesa. Kalau naik bas dari Manchester city centre, perjalanan ke Etihad Stadium ni lebih kurang 10-15 minit je. A large number of buses serve the service to the stadium almost at all time so no worries at all. Tapi kalau nak jalan kaki boleh juge. Berpeluh la jugak ketiak rasanya kalau menapak. hehehe. :p

View from the main gate. I'm loving the baby blue theme all around the ground. Clean and soft.

Larger view. See budak hepi gila dapat sampai sini. Luas and lapang je pemandangan.

Kawasan ni memang dipanggil Sportcity.
Kalau sebut ni kat drebar kompem dia bawak mai sini laju-laju. hehe. :)

Emirates Stadium (Arsenal)

Stadium ni pulak yang paling senang nak access dari London City. Naik je underground tube Picadilly line, kalau dari King's Cross Station tu lebih kurang dua stops aje. And from there, you can easily get to the ground by just a few minutes walk following the clear signage. Kawasan pun besar and beautifully located behind residential area. Syok gila orang yang dok dekat stadium boleh jual air kacang soya cari duit poket lebih masa hari ada match. eh sukahati ja? :p

At Arsenal underground station. Hoi sepet gila mata sapa tu hahaha.

Siapa ni cuba teka hikhik. :p

Suka sangat billboard depa ni. Nampak ganas orang nak rempuh pun cuak.

Kedai cenderahati Arsenal. Amacam ada sama ka?
Boleh buat part time jadi patung cendana depan kedai jual pakaian beruniform pun jadik la. haha.

Stamford Bridge Stadium (Chelsea)

Haaa!! Ni stadium yang paling mencabar nak sampai. Sebenarnya tak susah sangat, tapi hari tu kitorang tersalah station, so hambik kau kena menapak merentasi kawasan perkuburan yang mak oii besar nak mampus. Seriously, padan la Chelsea terror, nak sampai stadium tu kena lalu kawasan tok nenek depa dulu. hahaha. :p Padahal kalau turun dekat station yang betol takde la jauh mana. Saja nak buat drama. T___T

Rupa memang hensem tapi style rambut memanjang takbleh blah. haha.
Sukahati kutuk orang macam dia tu segak sangat. :p

The blues. Berus gigi Chelsea pun ada orang beli oii.
Taksub gila depa semua ni.

Main entrance. Building lama rasanya ni. Kalau refurbish mesti lagi cun.

Stamford gate. Kecik je stadium ni compared to the other three.

Old Trafford Stadium (Manchester)

Stadium ni lebih kurang 20 minit dari city centre kalau naik tram. To be honest, kalau takmau serabut, tolong la jangan pegi masa ada match. Seriously no fun at all. Tengok game memang best, but in term of taking pictures, serabut kepala hotak. The best way is to go there twice. Sehari tour around the stadium, sehari lagi temgok match. Memang terbaik kalau camtu. haha! :p Eh takyah letak gambar la yang ni, you can refer here to read my review about watching live match at the Old Trafford okay.

So I guess that's all about my experience visiting all the four stadiums. Tamat sudah cerita pasal bola sepak, kalau ada masa I update pasal my conference presentation and sightseeing around Loughborough, Manchester, London, and Amsterdam. I will try to review one place at a time with tips and so on. So, kalau ada sesapa nak pi sana lepas ni boleh la dapat gambaran serba sikit. :)

A football match live from Old Trafford, Greater Manchester

Assalamualaikum semua,

Punya la lama menghilang, tiba-tiba muncul balik nak cerita pasal football match pulak. haha. Ye la, untuk peminat bola sepak Premier League, hari ni kan ada important match between Manchester United (MU) dengan Liverpool. Tu yang tiba-tiba terasa nak kongsi pengalaman tengok live game di Old Trafford Stadium minggu lepas.

I was given chance to witness the moment of victory when MU defeated Wigan 4-0, live from their famous theater of dreams, Old Trafford Stadium on 15th September 2012. Honestly, I am not a sport addict, nor am I a football die hard fan. Kadang-kadang tu bukan paham sangat pun rules dalam permainan bola sepak ni. haha.

The only thing that I know is, satu team dok pulun nak bagi masuk gol belah sini, lagi satu team pulak, pulun nk bawak masuk bola belah sana. What happen in between, I don't really give it a damn. haha. Ye la, selama ni dok dapat gambaran tengok bola dekat stadium mesti ganas, panas, serabut kepala otak, tu yang malas tu. :p

However, after spending almost 2 hours watching one live game from the legendary Old Trafford Stadium, my perception has proven to be wrong since then. Best rupanya tengok live game macam ni. Nak-nak pulak kelab gergasi macam MU yang main, lagi la bertambah excitement nya. Every single moment will seem to carry the roar of almost 80000 fans in your ears. Gempak gila!

Ok lah, takmau cakap banyak, jom kita layan gambar pulak yea!

Entrance ticket to the Theater of Dreams

The crowd in front of the main building

Bila crowd dah mula reda, baru tenang sikit nak bergambar kat depan tu

Tempat scan ticket nak masuk dalam stadium

View from our seat

 Another shot

Tak berapa ikut tema The Red Devils. Jadila tu merah sikit-sikit. :p

I was there together with them

Pengalaman sekali seumur hidup

Saat-saat lepas gol. Big winning. 4-0

Hati gumbira puas hati sebab menang. Berbaloi beli tiket mahal pun.

The exit from Sir Alex Ferguson Stand

We are glad that we went there

That was it about my visit to Old Trafford Stadium. Pengalaman yang memang takkan dilupakan. Owh anyway, I bukan setakat pergi Old Trafford, but I also visited the other 3 giants who are leading the league at the moment, Etihad Stadium (Manchester City), Emirates Stadium (Arsenal), and Stamford Bridge Stadium (Chelsea). Kalau rajin nanti I update pasal all these visits okay? Tapi semua ni sekadar melawat je la, takde tengok game apa pun. Rabak poket kalau semua pun nak tengok. haha.