Lecturer VS Engineer

Dear Mr Diary,

An old friend of mine posted this topic on his FB wall last night. And the thoughts on this kept me awake for about half an hour before I actually fall in my own sweet slumber. Why? Bukan sebab I seorang bakal lecturer and Mr Bf pulak seorang engineer jadi kitorang nak bertinju. No, no such thing like that. Takde kaitan pun! Actually, he seek for opinions from us on which career to choose upon graduating; a lecturer/professor in mechanics or an engineer in the same area. Ha, a question requiring sturdy resolution isn't it?

First, if I am at his place, I myself couldn't even make up my mind that easily. Banyak benda nak kena consider. If you go for moneywise, an engineer gives you better salary. Itupun kena suffer dulu kerja 5-10 tahun sebelum nak dapat gaji belas-belas or puluh-puluh ribu. Once you have 10years of working experience, ha, kau demand la berapa gaji pun, insyaAllah orang kasi. Lagi satu, mak bapak kat kampung pun bangga nak bagitau orang pasal anak dia. Kalau orang kampung tanya, "Anak keja apa kat Kolumpo tu Pak Mat??". Laju je Pak Mat jawab, "Enginiaaaaa". Macho kan bunyinya.hehehe..:p

An engineer looks hot with his coverall on. Ngeee..:p

Tapi yang tak bestnya, workload bertan tan, kerja tak tentu masa, outstation sana sini, meeting meeting meeting, report report report, pastu stress tak hingat punya. Yang paling tak best, quality time dengan family pun mungkin akan berkurang (kecuali kalau pandai curik curik masa). Hang on Amirah, you tu tak penah jadi engineer, pandai pandai je reka cerita. Mengamuk para jurutera seantero dunia nanti tau.huhu.. No offense yea. But that's what I heard from engineers around me lah. Bukan berdasarkan pengalaman sendiri. Correct me if I'm wrong okay!! Peace..(^_~)v

My engineer. Ha, yang ni tak bole kacau ye..:p

Kalau jadi lecturer pulak, gaji memang la tak besar mana. Kerja 10 tahun sekali pun, payah nak cecah 10K. KECUALI!! Mereka mereka yang rajin tulis buku, mengajar part time, bagi talk, or apa apa je side works, boleh la demand income yang tinggi. Tapi dari segi kualiti hidup, I suka gila. Tak payah nak punch in or out, asalkan lectures semua tiptop, research bergerak, meeting tak ponteng, admin works tak diabaikan, ha, gasak la kau nak tungging ke terbalik ke dalam ofis tu. Takde sape kisah! (Mungkin ada yang kisah, tu pun kalau yang dilahirkan sebagai busybody). Tapi ni pun I bukan bercakap berdasarkan pengalaman. Again, correct me if this is unacceptable okay. I belom pernah jadi lecturer lagi. Habis PhD nanti baru nak balik jenguk-jenguk macam mana la dunia lecturer ni sebenarnya..I wonder..=))

I wonder how am I going to handle situation like this. Hmm..
(Photo courtesy from live.psu.edu/image/22732)

So, opinion I untuk kawan I tu, memandangkan dia belajar dalam area mechanics, I suggested him to gain as much experience as he can as a professional engineer first. Then, bila dah ilmu penuh di dada, anytime dia boleh tukar kerja jadi lecturer, provided, he needs to complete his Masters and PhD first. Dulu masa undergrad, I used to adore lecturers with working experiences in the real world. Rasa macam apa yang beliau cakap tu semua betol belaka. The way they delivered the information is so much different compared to those lecturers who came directly after completing their studies (which is just like me..sighs~). I harap I akan jadi seorang lecturer yang best di USM nanti. Aminnn..=))

Role model, Dr Zaitul Marlizawati. I always wanted to be like her. Everybody loves her.

Masa isi ruang cita-cita zaman sekolah rendah dulu, I tak pernah berangan pun nak jadi engineer. Leave alone doctor, lawyer, accountant etc.. Bukan tak bercita cita tinggi. But they are not listed in the nature of my interests. Dulu dapat tawaran ke UK untuk Bachelor in Engineering, offer turned down. Another offer to Japan pursuing the same area, again, offer turned down. Last sekali I purposely pilih untuk belajar Mathematics di UTM and here I am, ending up as a future lecturer in Applied Mathematics in USM, insyaAllah.

My all time favourite ambition; kindergarten teacher

p/s: Lepas dah siap PhD ni, I berangan nak belajar part time ambik diploma atau sijil dalam Early Childhood Education or at least apa apa diploma yang berkaitan dengan Education. Ohh, lupa nak cakap, cita-citaku untuk jadi cikgu tadika takkan padam sampai bila bila even kalau ditakdirkan berpangkat Profesor sekalipun. One day. My wish. Praying hard.

25th Birthday Celebration

Dear all,

I just wanted to thank you guys again for the impromptu birthday celebration down the hall. It was so thoughtful of you to turn out the lunch hour into a birthday celebration for me. You shouldn't have.. But I'm certainly glad you did! What a nice surprise.

What I do have of course is all of you and that makes everyday special especially when we are all away from our beloved ones. I appreciate all you did very much, including your time and attention in the midst of your own hectic schedules.

To Laili, Kak Suzana, Kak Fai, Atikah, Mad, Shahril (Pak Joko), Syahril (Madoline), Nash, Ungku, Hazmi, Kashfi and Thaqeef, thanks again for your time. Glad to see all of you there. I really can't thank you guys enough.

Beloved friends

The very last piece of the yummilicious chocolate cake

My love to you all,

Amirah Azmi
November 2nd, 2010
My 25th birthday

Cold November Rain

Hello dearie,

Been away for a few days. And now I'm back to work. Today is the starts of the last month of spring. How's November weather? Hmm, I think almost all of Australia has generally fine weather now, warmer in the north and tapering to mild as one starts heading south. As I just got back from the south, the weather was still very very chilling where the maximum daily temperature was still below 20°C and it decreased down to 7-8°C at night. What a bummer. Sungguh tak best berjalan jalan dalam cuaca sejuk tau!

Outdoor birds aviary at Melbourne Zoo

Kangaroo valley. Tapi tak dapat pegang pun kangaroo. Owh, sungguh kechiwa!!=(

Menunggu tram di St Kilda Road

Do I need to tell you more about my Melbourne trip? Hmm, nothing much to tell I guess. I wrote a few stories about Melbourne when I was there in January. I can't deny that Melbourne is a style setter with some of the best shopping and nightlife in Astralia. Whether you are searching for the streets wear to designer's label, Melbourne has it all. Me? Haruslah cari yang murah murah. Lagi murah lagi bagus. Dapat beli banyak banyak..:p

Ha, nak tau something tak? I booked 3 nights stay at Malaysian Hall Melbourne. I dah siap call pegawai yang uruskan, dah email form, kira dah comfirm semua semua lah before pegi sana. Then bila sampai proses nak check in, tiba tiba beliau cakap nama I takde dalam sistem. Ha, mula la I nak naik darah. Tapi I cool lagi masa tu memandangkan berurusan dengan pegawai kerajaan. I tanya, "Sekarang macam mana ni encik? Saya anggap ni technical problem, tapi saya harap ada solution untuk problem ni". Dengan confident nya I bercakap. Padahal cuak kalau takde tempat tinggal. Kene pi cari backpackers la pulak nanti. Hadoii la..

Lepas pegawai tu belek belek online form yang I dah submit, panjang jugak dia fikir. Malangnya memang takde bilik kosong. Semua dah occupied. Hmmm, I dah mula tunjuk muka bengang. Mestila bengang!! Penat okay drive all the way from Wollongong for ten complete hours, tiba tiba pulak tak boleh check in. Bengang! Bengang! But then he suddenly said, "Cik Amirah, bilik visitors memang takde kosong, yang tinggal cuma bilik VVIP yang disediakan khas untuk menteri menteri kerajaan yang datang visit Malaysia Hall. Jadi, saya masukkan nama Cik Amirah untuk masuk dalam bilik tu la ye dengan bayaran yang sama".

I yang pada mulanya nak naik angin terus senyum sampai telinga. Waaaahh!! bayar $6 dollar satu malam tapi dapat duduk bilik yang cantik gila dengan katil siap kerawang semua, ada washing machine, dapur complete dengan microwave, fridge, tv lcd, sofa empuk etc. Bahagianyaaaa mcm tu.. I took this as my second birthday present for 2010.hehe.. Mula mula pasal insurans kereta sewa, now duduk bilik VIP. Mungkin itu namanya rezeki. Ada hikmah rupanya bila wujud technical problem yang berpunca dari pihak pengurusan. Tapi ada risiko la jugak, kalo nasib baik dapat la duduk bilik VVIP, tapi kalo nasib tak berapa nak baik, gasak la kau duduk bilik kat sebelah laundry room kongsi kongsi toilet dengan orang lain. Ada mau?hehehe..:p

Muka happy dapat duduk bilik super cantik

So, macam tu la kisahnya penempatan I dekat Melbourne. Cerita jalan jalan lain sama ja macam yang I penah cerita dulu dulu. Overall, kitorang semua berpuas hati dengan tempat dan layanan dari staf. It was not a good start at the very beginning, however things went on very well for the rest of our stay in Malaysia Hall Melbourne. Thanks Encik Hasnizul for the warm welcome and thanks to Irfan for your cooperation on arranging our last additional night there. I would love to be there again, tapi takdela letak harapan tinggi dapat duduk bilik menteri macam hari tu lagi dah. Kalau demand jugak, mesti diorang cakap. "Banyak cantik muka kau???" hehehe..:p

p/s: It rains breezingly for the whole day. I couldn't stop listening to the great masterpiece, November Rain by Guns N Roses over and over again. Sangat sedap lah lagu tu. Eventho it sounds like the 80s but I still love it. I love the part where the lyric says "And when your fears subside, And shadows still remain, I know that you can love me, When there's no one left to blame, So never mind the darkness, We still can find a way, 'Cause nothin' lasts forever, Even cold November rain". AWESOME!!

Goodbye October 2010

Assalamualaikum Encik Diari,

Don't worry, this time I'm not gonna shower you with any other vacation story. You must be tired of listening to all that, weren't you? Sorry tau!hehe. I'm at my office now. Concentrating on doing my works and suddenly I feel like scribbling something in here. This might be the last entry for this month as I'm off to Melbourne the first thing in the morning tomorrow.

Melbourne? Hmm, seems like it now became my second favourite place in Australia after Wollongong. I've been living there for a month earlier this year, then I went there a couple of times for my connecting flight to Kuala Lumpur, and now I'm heading there again for a few days. Tapi tak kira la berapa banyak kali pun I pegi sana, I tetap suka! It is the best place for a visit so far.

Once upon a time in Melbourne

On the cruise to Manly. Latest Sydney visit. Alamak, baju sama. Alasan nak shopping ni..:p

Pagi tadi I bangun awal tau. Eh, 7.30am awal ke? Awal la tu untuk I. Biasanya pukul 8.30-9.00am baru nak celik mata. Kantoi!hehe. Hari ni bangun awal sebab nak pegi pick up kereta dekat Thrifty. Rasa macam dah selesa hire kereta kat situ. Service sangat memuaskan dan murah pulak tu. Guess what, I dapat sewa kereta Toyota Corolla 1.8 untuk 5hari dengan harga $234. Jumlah asal yang kena bayar $244(sewa 5hari termasuk insurance premium protection)+ $300(one way fee)= $544 (Total disaster!!). Tapi disebabkan I dapat discout student UOW dengan drop off fee sempena offer ape tah, the price reduces to $234. Lebih dari 50% discount. Murah gila!

Sebenarnya, sistem sewa kereta kat sini, kalau umur di bawah 25, kena bayar harga insurance yang lagi mahal. Sungguh tak aci tau!! Ye la, umur I tak cukup 25 tahun lagi. Lagi beberapa hari baru cukup umur. Then bila aunty yang baik hati tadi tu check my birth date, dia gelakkan aje. Disebabkan lagi beberapa hari umur I akan jadi genap 25, dia pun bagi can tak payah bayar insurance yang mahal tu. Fuhhh, legaaaa. I took this as my first birthday present for this year. To Aunty Michelle Thrifty, tenkiuuuu!!=))

Ikutkan plan, esok pagi pagi dalam pukul 4, I, kakak dengan Abg Adil akan bertolak ke Melbourne. This is my first road trip in Australia. Selama ni naik flight je. I pun dah naik bosan naik flight sebenarnya. Tak boleh nak tengok apa pun. Tu yang nak try drive pulak. A total of 813km with approximately 10hours of constant driving. Jauh kan?? Takpe, boleh tukar tukar driver. Lepas ni kalau penat tak payah la cuba lagi dah.hehehe..:p

Nanti kitorang akan tido dekat Malaysia Hall Melbourne. I heard a few unsatisfactory stories about that place. But we decided to give it a try first. Mana la tau dah improve ke kan. Kalau tak puas hati jugak, ape lagi, we all cabut lah cari mana mana backpackers yang melambak lambak dekat Melbourne CBD tu nanti. So, pray for my safe journey to and from Melbourne okay. I'll be back on Sunday morning. I'm gonna get the first morning flight from Melbourne and expected to arrive in Wollongong around 10am.

p/s: I'm gonna miss you Wollongong. Eh, belum mula jalan jalan lagi dah start rindu Wollongog macam mana ni?hehehe..:p I dont know why, but for me, this is the perfect place for a living. Selain Malaysia lah! So, I guess I'll see you later then. On my birthday perhaps? Till then, tata.

Canberra ACT

Dear diary,

After spending a night at the Blue Mountains, we moved on to Australian Capital Territory, Canberra. We checked out at around 8.45am and we reached Canberra roughly about 1.00pm. More than three hours of driving is not too bad rite. Macam drive dari Penang ke KL je la. You know what, masa on the way pergi dan balik dari Blue Mountains, kitorang ada lalu satu highway yang ada tol tau. Kenapa lalu tol? GPS ajar lalu situ, we just follow the instructions..:p

It is not about paying the toll that matters, but how the system complicates things. Okay, highway kat sini takde la toll booth yang macam kat Malaysia yang ada toll gate girl yang comel comel tu. Kita lalu je bawah sensor, diorang detect kereta kita enter highway, then bila nak exit, sensor akan detect lagi sekali tandanya kita dah keluar. Masa tu I dah menggelabah. Ada banyak signboard tulis "If you don't have tag or pass, call 13 TOLL". Tak ke sengal macam tu? Macam mana nak bayar tol ni? Buatnya dia hantar saman ke ape ke dekat Thrifty mati la I.

I terus call Laili tanya macam mana nak buat kot2 dia penah lalu tol camtu. Then bila Laili tolong tanya tanya orang lain, rupa rupanya 13 TOLL tu sebenanya kena dail 138655. T=8, O=6, L=5. Hampeh btol. Tulis je la number kan senang, nak jugak menyusahkan orang kene fikir panjang. Bila dah call, I bagi details kereta, diorang buat comfirmation, bagi account details, then the amount will be deducted directly from my savings account. Hadoii la. Sampai bayar tol pun nak kena canggih canggih ke? Menyusahkan orang lagi ada la. Bukan mahal sangat pun. $3.71 je kos sehala. Cost I call lagi mahal rasanya. Tapi apa nak buat, bila dah duduk negara maju, we really need to bear with all the too complicated nonsense technology they are using. Haihh..

Okay, forget about the toll thingy. Let's continue on Canberra ACT. We straight away went to Australian War Memorial right when we reached Canberra. Mula mula ingat nak ambik gambar kat building luar yang cantik tu je. Masa datang dengan Kak Emy dulu pun I amik gamba kat luar je. Tapi kali ni tiba tiba rasa nak masuk pulak. Kebetulan masa masuk tu askar diorang tengah rehearsal untuk celebration apa tah. Dapat la tengok macam mana askar Australia berkawad kaki.hehehe.

Overall, the war memorial is an interesting place to visit. Walaupun I ni memang lah tak minat langsung dengan muzium muzium ni, tapi bila masuk dalam ni, I rasa lain. They tend to visualize things in real. Lepas satu section, I rasa nak move on to the next one. Sayang rasanya nak terlepas satu section pun. Kalau datang Canberra jangan lupa visit tempat ni tau. Bunyi macam bosan, tapi sebenanya banyak benda yang best kat dalam building ni. Give it a try okay!! Yang penting, free.hehe..=))

Australia War Memorial from the outside

An insight view of the memorial

Making our way to go inside the building

Baca nama nama askar yang dah terkorban

Then, we went to the Parliament House. Another significant place included in the must-go places in Canberra. Ni pun I dah pernah pergi dulu. Tapi masa tu I bbergambar gitu gitu je la. Takde apa apa yang menarik sangat. But this time, I had chance to enter the chambers where the government is debating with the opposition leaders. I even had the opportunity to see Australia Prime Minister, Julia Gillard in real. She was just like a few meters away from our sitting place. Tak pernah terfikir dapat masuk dalam bilik persidangan parlimen, bersama sama dengan perdana menteri Australia. Wow!! Satu pengalaman yang sangat sangat berharga yang I takkan lupa sampai bila bila..=))

Menuju ke arah Parliamentary House

From the inside view

Security check untuk masuk ke dalam chambers

So, that's all about our visits. Three exhausting days, but the experiences are priceless. We will continue with another visits tomorrow. Sydney, here we come!!=))

Blue Mountains

Hello there!!

On Monday morning, we went to Blue Mountains, world heritage that offers a range of experiences found nowhere on earth. I was so excited about this trip because I never been to this place before. We started our journey from Wollongong at around 8.30am and after about 4hours of driving, we reached Katoomba, the main city. Since we were still ahead of time, we decided to look for accommodation first. We chose to spend our night at Blue Mountains Backpacker Hostel which is situated right in the middle of Katoomba city. Walaupun namanya hostel, tempat ni sangat selesa, well equipped room, toilet sangat cantik, dapur besar, ada free internet access, ruang lepak yang sangat selesa and reception yang sangat peramah yang siap boleh tawar menawar (dapat harga $70 untuk 3 orang, murah gila!). If you want to spend a night at Blue Mountains, I will definitely suggest you to go to this place.

Blue Mountains Backpacker Hostel, 144 Bathurst Street, Katoomba NSW 2780

Reservation and check in counter

Spacious communal area, a huge lounge room with comfortable sofas, big screen TV and a roaring fire to warm the whole area.

Then, we straight away made our way to the first spot, The Echo Point. Sampai je dekat situ, I rasa tergamam sangat dengan pemandangan yang sangat cantik yang tak mungkin kita dapat di mana mana tempat selain Blue Mountains. When we perched along the edge of the scarp, we are facing the panoramic view of the Blue Mountains, Kanangra-Boyd Wilderness and the Three Sisters. Selama ni scenic view macam ni I dok tengok dalam National Geographic je, tapi kali ni, terbentang luas depan mata. Rasa bersyukur sangat dengan peluang yang Allah bagi untuk saksikan kebesaran ciptaan-Nya.

The Three Sisters behind us. Sila google kalau nak tau sejarah Three Sisters ni ye..:p

Then, we went to the Scenic World. Dekat sini lagi best. I dapat peluang naik Skyway, Railway dengan Cableway. Best sangat sangat! Pemandangan jangan cakap lah, setiap sudut mata memandang rasa cantik sangat. Tak dapat nak describe dengan perkataan. Harap gambar dapat membantu. Tu pun still tak sama dengan apa yang nampak jelas kat depan mata. Ha, kalau nak tau jemput lah datang ke Australia, nanti I bawak jalan jalan datang sini..:p :p

Four types of scenic world rides: Skyway, Railway, Walkway, Cableway

Me and the Skyway behind. Pardon my BIG, ROUND face pleasee.. T__T

While waiting for our turn to ride on the Railway

The couple on the Cableway

Lepas dah puas jamu mata dengan pemandangan yang super cantik, kitorang pun singgah kat satu garden ni untuk makan bekal tengahari. I masak lauk masak kicap sebelum gerak pagi tu. Bila perut dah lapar, cuaca sejuk, badan dah letih, lauk tu jadi ayam masak kicap yang paling sedap dalam dunia tau! Walaupun temperature sangat rendah, angin pulak kuat, makan sampai tangan menggigil, kitorang tetap hargai pengalaman ni. What a really precious experience we had.

Setelah puas memenatkan badan, kitorang pun bergerak balik ke bilik. Sebelum tu singgah jalan jalan di sekitar pekan Katoomba yang sangat comel tu. Unfortunately, all the shops were already closed when we reached there. Sungguh tak mencabar lah kehidupan mat salleh ni. Pukul 5 petang dah tutup kedai. Malam malam boleh baring atas jalan raya. Haihh. Takpela, we ourselves were exhausted enough. Sampai je bilik terus terpengsan keletihan tak ingat dunia. Malam tu kitorang bangun makan maggi kari panas panas sambil tengok cerita hantu, lepas tu sambung tido balik.hahaha. Best sangat!!

Mari masak maggi kari pedassss, yeayy!!


To-be-continue : Canberra ACT

Dapto, Kiama, Stanwell Park

Hello Mr Diary, here I come again..=)

Our actual activity started on Sunday morning. We went out as early as 7.30am to fetch our hired car from Thrifty Wollongong. Mula mula dapat kereta tu I sungguh terkejut. Wah, hijaunye!!!Rasa macam katak gergasi sedang berlegar legar di jalan raya. Tapi bila lama lama naik, rasa cool jugak bergerak dalam kereta katak pisang tu.hahaha..:p

Early morning at Thrifty Wollongong

Si katak hijau

For most of the people here, Sunday has no meaning without going to Dapto Sunday Market. So, our first stop was at Dapto. Kepada yang tidak tahu, Dapto tu macam flea market atau carboot sale market la. Ada banyak sangat jual barang barang yang murah. Kalau orang yang pandai cari, memang akan jumpa macam macam barang yang sangat best. Puas la kakak dengan abg adil memborong kat situ. The price is wayyyy cheaper than the ones we may get inside the store. Memang berbaloi! Me? Tak jumpa apa apa. I memang lemah bab bab mencari ni. Jeles betol tengok orang angkut macam macam dari sini. Sighs~

Hasil dari Dapto

From there, we went to Kiama Blowhole. This is my third visit to Kiama and everytime I went there, I never failed to be amazed on how beautiful is the place. Cantik sungguh ciptaan Allah. The weather was so perfect. Sunny day day offering bright sunlight, wide blue sky with not even a tiny cloud and chilling ocean breeze really made our visit to Kiama something unforgettable.

Konon macam hebat lunch dekat bawah matahari. But it was freezing. Believe me!

Kiama Lighthouse

Kiama Blowhole

Then, we drove off to Stanwell Park where we found people doing hand gliding there. Another beautiful lookout that you cannot miss if you happen to visit Wollongong one day okay. Dekat situ, kebetulan pulak terjumpa geng Gundi. Kak Mas, Kak Fai, Kak Suzana and Hazmi. What a coincidence. I datang bawak kakak jalan jalan, diorang pulak datang dengan trip accommodation..=))

Bald Hill, Stanwell Park

Geng Gundi: Hazmi, me, K.Mas, K.Fai, K.Suzana

Lepas dah puas seharian jalan jalan, kitorang pun balik rumah. Rehat kejap then keluar balik pergi beli barang dekat Woolies. Niatnya nak singgah makan dekat Turkish Delight, tapi tutup lah pulak. Then kitorang pun makan dekat Oporto. Makan sampai kenyang gila lepas tu baru balik rumah. What a tiring day we had. But overall, it was really fun!=))

To-be-continue : Blue Mountains Trip

A day at Auntie Noon's house

Assalamualaikum sweetie..

A few days went off, and now only I have time to update something about Kakak and Abg Dil's visit. They arrived at around 8.30pm on Friday, 15th October. I picked them up at the airport with Laili and brought them to Uyghur restaurant for dinner. Then, we straight away went back to Wollongong. I know it was a really exhausting day for them after a very very long journey. That's why I didn't plan anything in particular to do on the next day so that they will have some time to regenerate their energy.

Upon arrival at Sydney Airport

Dinner at Uyghur Restaurant

Then, on Saturday noon, Kak Azean told me that Auntie Noon invited us to her crib for cooking and gardening session. Mungkin rezeki kakak untuk kenal lebih ramai orang Malaysia di Wollongong agaknya. So, lebih kurang pukul 2pm kitorang gerak ke rumah aunty. Bukan kitorang je, family Mad, Nas, Pak Joko, Ilyas, Ungku, Rauf, Kashfi and Khairul pun ada jugak. As usual, the ladies will be cooking at the kitchen and the guys will be helping out at the garden. Hmmm, rutin wajib kalau dijemput ke rumah aunty.hehehe.

Berkumpul dekat rumah Mad

Cooking session

Lepas dah siap keje masak memasak, kitorang tunggu orang lelaki siap berkebun sambil jalan jalan di sekitar rumah aunty. Berkebun? Where on earth did we get to do the gardening session here in Wollongong? Fyi, belakang rumah aunty sangat penuh dengan segala macam pokok yang bermacam macam jenis. You name it, daun kari, serai, pokok pisang, pokok lemon, limau barli, etc etc. Semua ada kat situ. Nak ape cakap je, nanti aunty petik je kat belakang. Cool kan?

Berjalan jalan sekitar rumah aunty

Ingatkan lepas dah siap memasak dan berkebun semua tu boleh la terus makan. Rupa rupanya tidak. Aunty organize game lah pulak. We were divided into 3 groups and each of the groups was given a few questions. I was in the same team with Ilyas, Kash dengan Ungku. Kalau dah nama pun Aunty Noon, game pun haruslah berkaitan dengan kesihatan jugak kan. Walaupun pening pening lalat, it was fun doing it. At the end of the session then only we learn that there were actually quite a lot of important info regarding to health and cleanliness that we never been aware of. Ha, dalam game tu, group I dapat number 2.hehe. Jadiklah.. Lepas dah main, ape lagi, makan time!!

Makan makan

Lepas dah makan semua, kitorang pun lepak lepak sambil berkaraoke. Penat gila rupanya bila seharian beraktiviti. Padahal bukanlah buat apa sangat pun. Masak masak, lepak lepak, tapi penat jugak. Balik tu terus tido dengan nyenyaknya akibat kepenatan. Esok paginya kena bangun awal sebab nak ambik kereta yang dah disewa dari Thrifty. Fuhh, what a tiring day we had.

Lepak lepak sambil berkaraoke

Group photo

To-be-continue

Simpson oh Simpson

Hey buddy!!

I went to see Tim this morning. Only a very short meeting for about 20minutes. 2 minggu ni I serabut sebab masih tak dapat solution untuk transcendental equations yang I tengah solve sekarang. Ada integration part yang bapaklah complicatednye. Asyik dapat piecewise solution je. Buat buat tapi tak dapat jugak, akhirnya buntu!

Maka dengan itu, tepat pukul 11am hari ni I pegi la jumpa Tim sambil buat muka kesian. It was such a disgrace everytime I went to see him without something in hands. Sungguh! Rasa macam tak cukup kerja keras. Then I started to feel bad for myself. Sighs~ But I already tried my best you know. Walaupun kadang kadang harusah ngelat jugak kan.hehe.:p

Bila jumpa tadi baru I tau kena guna any type of numerical works in order to solve that supercomplicated integral inside the transcendental equations. He suggested me to use Simpson's Rule which seems to be quite simple at my stage. Wahhh, pandainye supervisor saye!! Ape punya sengal la you ni Amirah. Kalau dah tau involve integration, automatic la ingat kena guna numerical baru senang. Ini tidak, paksa jugak diri pi buat cacing cacing tu. Memang la tak dapat. Haihh. Okay, assignment hari ni, pi cari balik formula Simpson's Rule yang dah lama ditinggalkan tu. Omg, menggelabah! Lupa, lupa!

Simpson's Rule. Mari belajar Matematik ye kawan kawan.. T__T

Lepas dah settle bincang pasal research, I pun sekali lagi dengan muka kesian bagitau Tim details pasal I nak balik bulan depan. I had told him before. Which was about a few months back. And I bet he already forgotten. So, when the date is getting near, I just want to remind him all again. I mentioned about my brother's wedding thingy and how important does the ceremony to me and bla bla bla. And he just said, "Okay, no problem. Just send me the details of the date and you may have a break". Owh, begitu mudah sekali. What a relief. Alhamdulillah..=))

p/s: Kejap lagi I plan nak pegi hospital melawat Abg Najib. Kaki kanan beliau dah tak dapat diselamatkan dan baru je menjalani pembedahan amputation bermula dari bawah lutut dan ke bawah. Sila google apa tu amputate ye. Tak sanggup nak terangkan kat sini. Tapi memetik kata kata beliau, "Allah telah mengurniakan kaki ini untuk tempoh yang panjang dan telah sampai masa Allah menarik sedikit rahmat ini". Beliau menerima semua ujian dengan redha dan telah bersedia. Ya Allah, kurniakan ketabahan yang berlipat ganda ke atas keluarga Kak Hajar dan Abg Najib. Amin.

Fly AirAsiaX to Sydney please

Assalamualaikum..

Here I am again. With a real big grin on my face. Ngeeeee... Why? I just read something so exciting from Yahoo!NEWS a couple of hours ago. And I can't stop praying for the news to be true right now. Okay, the title of the news is "AirAsia X urges Malaysia to end Sydney route monopoly". See how exhilarating the news is? No? Hey, at least it is REALLY thrilling for me and the rest of other Malaysian here around Sydney and New South Wales. Rasa nak loncat sampai kena bumbung sekarang jugak tau!!:p

Come, let me explain. You must be aware of the existence of Malaysian long-haul budget airline AirAsiaX(AAX) rite? Setakat ni AAX dah berjaya meluaskan penerbangan hampir ke sebahagian besar pelosok dunia. And out of all the important places, Sydney is excluded. What a shame. In Australia, AAX already flies to Gold Coast, Melbourne and Perth but has failed so far to obtain government approval to expand the route to Sydney. Adalah menjadi polisi kerajaan Malaysia untuk membenarkan hanya Malaysia Airlines yang boleh memonopoli hak penerbangan KL-SYDNEY. Can't you see how unfair the policy is?

AAX route map all around the world. And Sydney is nowhere can be seen. Sighs~

I faham, mungkin ada sebab kenapa kerajaan kita tetapkan polisi yang macam tu, but if they look at other important aspects, Sydney is a major gateway and an important market for Malaysia in terms of tourism, education, as well as trade and investment. Mungkin dengan adanya AAX ke Sydney, peluang Malaysia untuk mempereratkan hubungan dengan kerajaan Australia akan turut bertambah. Chewahhh!! Pandai la kau cakap Mira.hahaha. Ni pendapat peribadi I dari segi konteks yang luas la.

But, if I say it from personal point of view, I'll be very very happy as this will makes my life much more easier. Dapat balik Malaysia dengan tambang yang murah tanpa perlu transit beberapa jam di Melbourne. Sungguh terrible bila kena menunggu okeh. Kawan kawan dan saudara mara pun senang nak datang melawat. Best sangat kan kalau macam tu kan? So, apa lagi, tolongla doa supaya berita ni akan jadi berita terbaik untuk tahun ni..Owh, cakap pasal saudara melawat, esok Kaklong dgn Abg Dil akan sampai. Happy!! Happy!!=))

p/s: Did I ever mentioned that I'm not going back next year? I think I did. Hmmm, how lah? Boleh tarik balik tak? Ngeeee..:p :p

Walk with me, anyone?

Good day sweetie!!

I started walking to uni since last week, after a few months of not doing so. I gradually discontinued walking since late autumn and during winter, I stopped the activity permanently. Cari pasal je jalan kaki sejuk sejuk tu. Ada yang mati keras kat tengah jalan pulak nanti. But then, when the weather now looks a little bit promising, I started walking all again. Best pulak dapat jalan kaki pagi pagi pegi uni. Good on me, my health, my weight, my fitness as well as help to lose my unnecessary body fat.

For some people, they love all the tough physical activities in order to improve their good health. As for me, physical activity does not have to be too vigorous. I tak mampu la nak paksa diri jogging kat padang bola 5 round tiap tiap hari, atau main badminton 2-3 game sehari. Tak reti main badminton pun. Asik kena kutip shuttle cock je nanti.huhuhu.

My regular excercises now include intensive aerobic classes (BAT and BodyBurn) two times a week, cardio workout once a week, and now I will walk to uni for 20minutes everyday. Cukup la tu untuk maintain the fitness of my body. Jangan ajak I lumba lari tau!! Nanti orang lain semua dah sampai, I pulak berenti bawah pokok berehat dengan nyamannya. Kalau ajak I jalan kaki kat botanic garden, sembang sembang, I'm totally in it.hehehe..:p

Why walking interesting? Well, everybody knows walking is a low impact activity requiring minimal equipment. Pakai baju apa pun takpa, yang penting kasut mesti selesa. Jangan la jalan pakai 6inches heels, tu cari penyakit namanya. Walking can be done at any time of the day and most interestingly, can be performed at your own pace. Kalau agak agak panas, I bawak la payung, ala ala makcik makcik yang balik dari pasar tu.hehehe.

Satu lagi kan, masa berjalan tu jugaklah biasanya masa untuk I berfikir. Ye la, sambil tengok rumah orang yang cantik cantik, bunga warna warni, kereta lalu lalang, tenang je rasanya. Paling best kalau terjumpa couple at their golden age, jalan jalan sambil pegang tangan, cakap manja manja macam tengah bercinta. Sweet sangat sangat!! Pemandangan macam tu sangat biasa kat sini. Tapi kat Malaysia jarang sangat jumpa. Why? I have no idea why.huhu.

Ain't this golden couple looks lovely? Very much inlove. I like!=))

p/s: The benefits of walking can also be achieved when shopping. A good stroll around shops for a few hours can still help burn off some fat stores. Ha, sape cakap orang pompuan malas eksesais memang nak kena gigit! We are all good in this tau! So, to all ladies out there, in order to support fat burning mode, more window shopping may be good for this! =))

Saya budak baru belajar

Dear diary,

I had a nearly one-hour tutorial session just now. Learning on how to operate this new little fella I owned since one month ago. Mind boggling session. Really confusing. But very very fun indeed! Memang kena cop dekat dahi ni "saya budak buta teknologi" rasanya. Mencabar sungguh nak belajar benda benda canggih ni ye. Sepuluh soalan diorang tanya, sepuluh jawapan macam, "Waaa, canggihnye!", "Oooo, camtu je ke?", "Fuiyooo, bestnye!!", "Alamak, taktau pun boleh buat camtu", dan bermacam-macam lagi jawapan ala ala jakun yg terkeluar dari mulut I ni.hehehe. Serious, memang I taktau. Memang kena gelak je la dengan budak budak ni tadi.huhu.

Okay, you must be confused now. You have no idea what the hell am I talking about? Did I ever mentioned that I'm using a new mobile phone rite now? Never? Okay, let me explain. I telah kehilangan handphone kesayangan yang paling canggih dalam dunia masa balik Malaysia raya yang lepas. Handphone yang ada torchlight kat kepala dia tu. I hung onto that phone since I first came to Australia in 2009. Semua manusia kat Aussie ni pakai pakai phone yang canggih canggih. Excluding me. I tetap setia dengan phone I yang "super power" dari zaman batu tu.

Handphone yang paling setia dengan I. Last sekali hilang jugak. Sedey..=(

For me, the main ideas of having a mobile phone are only for making or answering calls and text messaging. The rest, I don't give it a damn. Really. Sebab I memang tak reti gadjet gadjet yang canggih ni. Paling hebat yang I tau pun main game bodoh bodoh yang ada dalam phone canggih orang lain. Tu pun dah excited gila dah.hehehe. Wujud jugak manusia macam I dalam zaman serba teknologi ni kan. Memang ada, tapi dah kian pupus jenis manusia macam ni. What to do. I'm really not a technology freak.

Tapi kan, lepas balik dari Malaysia hari tu, I seriously need to get a new mobile phone to replace the one that lost. Punya la pening nak pilih pakai phone apa. Sebab yang jual kat kedai semua yang canggih canggih belaka. Kalau yang macam I punya dulu, diorang buat toys untuk anak anak kambing diorang je agaknya. Tu pun kalau kambing kambing tu sudi.hehehe. So, I pun pergi buat survey kat mall. Jalan dari satu kedai ke satu kedai. Tengok plan yang diorang offer and try to make careful comparison on top of all that. After a few session of careful searching, I ended up buying the latest hot babe in the whole mobile phone technology, the iPhone 4. Fuhhh!! First time seumur hidup pakai tepon canggih. Jakun, sungguh jakun sekali.hehehe..:p :p

My sleek and slender new toy. Keep falling in love with it from time to time.

After using it for almost 4 weeks, I started to enjoy the applications of the world's thinnest smartphone from Apple. It's not that hard though. You gotta learn on how to use it bit by bit. Explore every single thing inside it. Tapi sesungguhnya masih banyak benda lagi yang memang I tak tau lepas tutorial session dengan diorang ni semua tadi. Terima kasih ye kawan kawan yang sudi share ilmu tadi ye. Kena gelak pun nasib la. I took it as a matter of learning. Sekarang baru I tau banyak benda rupanya yang I boleh buat dengan adanya teknologi canggih dalam iPhone 4 ni. Yang paling best, I baru tau yang ada scientific calculator dalam benda alah ni.hahaha. Tak payah usung calculator ke mana mana sekarang ni. Suka! Suka!=))

p/s: That's all about my new passion now. Masa mula mula beli tu, I register satu application ni tau, iPhone 4 Case Program. For those yang beli sebelum 30th September, boleh register untuk dapat satu casing free. Baru je pagi tadi sampai. Yeayy!! Sekarang tepon ku ini dah ada 2 baju untuk salin salin..=))

A Bug Costs a Human Life

Dear diary,

Semalam lebih kurang pukul 7pagi, Kak Azean kejutkan I, dia cakap dia nak pergi Sydney. Emergency. Husband Kak Hajar dah kena transfer ke Prince of Wales Hospital (PoWH). Masa tu I terus duduk tegak. Terfikir condition Abg Najib mesti sangat kritikal sampai kena immediate transfer dari Wollongong Hospital (WH) naik helicopter pukul 2 pagi. Yes, his condition was really really bad that time, they need to transfer him immediately to Sydney for further action. Masa tu I cuma mampu doa yang takkan ada apa apa berita buruk yang akan menimpa family Kak Hajar.

Dalam pukul 10pagi, Kak Emy call I, ajak pergi visit Kak Hajar dekat Sydney petang tu jugak. Since I pun takde apa apa yang busy dekat office, I straight away said yes. Eventhough we knew there's nothing we could do, we just want to be there for her, support her, emotionally and spiritually. So, at around 4pm, we drove off to PoWH with prayers that Abg Najib is in stable condition. We met Kak Hajar at Malaysia Hall. Kak Hajar nampak sangat lemah. Tapi I tetap kagum dengan Kak Hajar, dia masih boleh bercakap dengan tenang, explaining the whole thing about his husband's condition.

Kak Hajar (tudung hitam) is explaining about what had happended.

Cerita sangat panjang. I'll just cut it short here. His right leg has been infected by bacterias from a tiny little bug. Yes, a bug. Siapa sangka serangga sekecik tu mampu buat seorang manusia terlantar di dalam ICU dalam keadaan sangat sangat kritikal dan hanya dapat bernafas dengan alat bantuan pernafasan. Bakteria tu dah menyebabkan banyak sel-sel otot kaki Abg Najib mati, sebab tu pembedahan demi pembedahan terpaksa dijalankan. Selagi ada sel otot yang mati, pembedahan akan terus dibuat untuk buang sel sel tu semua. Akibat daripada ni, mungkin kaki kanan Abg Najib tak dapat diselamatkan bagi mengelakkan keadaan jadi semakin buruk. Memang hancur hati Kak Hajar bila dengar berita tu, tapi dia tetap kena tabah.

Masa dekat WH, keadaan jadi sangat kritikal sebab bakteria dah mula nak merebak ke kaki sebelah kiri dan hati, tp Alhamdulillah, antiobiotik yang dimasukkan lepas transfer ke PoWH reacts positively, sebelum bakteria jahat tu terus merebak. Owh my, I can't even imagine what will happen if the action taken was a few hours late. Things might became worse. Thanks to Allah for saving his life. But poor Abg Najib, even a small insect like that could cost him a life.

Sebagai sahabat, kami semua hanya mampu mendoakan kesihatan Abg Najib dan harap Kak Hajar akan terus kuatkan semangat menghadapi semua ujian. Yang penting, Allah swt masih beri peluang Abg Najib untuk terus hidup bersama isteri dan anak anak. Setiap ujian yang melanda lepas ni, harap Kak Hajar dan keluarga akan terus tabah. Hanya Allah swt yang tahu kenapa keluarga Kak Hajar diuji dengan dugaan seberat ni. Yang pasti, setiap apa yang berlaku, tentu ada hikmah disebaliknya.

p/s: Masa kami ada kat Sydney teman Kak Hajar, student di Wollongong pulak dah uruskan solat hajat dan bacaan yasin mendoakan kesihatan Abg Najib kembali stabil. Di sini saya nampak betapa pentingnya hidup bermasyarakat terutama sekali bila kita berada di perantauan. Sahabat sahabat merupakan ahli keluarga terdekat. Syukur.