Weekend...

Soalan trivia - Which one is the correct pronunciation 1) wik en (as two separate words) or 2) wikend?

***
I am supposed to go to the library and find some materials for my proposal outline. I'm kinda sleepy. I hope blogging will help me stay awake.

I had a very busy weekend because I had to work yesterday (read: it's a Sunday!) and the day before yesterday we had a birthday party for Zack. Actually today is his 13th birthday but we chose to celebrate it earlier...So, Zack a.k.a Apan Jack, happy birthday!!!

Mama, tinker and my cousins were the programme coordinators for the birthday bash, aku hanyalah melukut di tepi gantang huahuahua. Just kidding, I was so busy with work (yelah budak2 nak regis kan banyak la plak keje cikgu ni ha) and pretended to be very jahil about party organizing thingy sampai si tinker tu almost turned into an active volcano (lagi penipuan dari aku - tinker ok, masih lagi waras tapi mulut dia makaih mama pun boleh kalah, asyik pokpekpokpek).

We enjoyed the BBQ and also the games. Thank you Mama for the lovely food, Papa for helping us to clean up, k.Lia, bro Amil and my taiko for BBQ-ing the food lah, k.Ju and tinker for preparing the goodies and tidbits, k.Jules for shopping for us - terima kasih! And for those who came and contributed in making the party even more enjoyable and fun (bese la, cik Limah, pak Atan, mak Som, the typical characters, (bukan nama sebenar) yang memang kaki gosip banyak ajelah cerita2 kelentong derang huahuahua) dan semua2 lah yang hadir, thank you to all of you (ni belum menang award lagi ni, sape yang gua tak sebut tu, nanti gua menang nobel prize for literature, lu orang msg la gua, kompem gua sebut! :P). Eh lupe lak nak tenkiu diri sendiri sebab berjaya memikirkan soalan2 bernas untuk sesi win, lose or draw (ni ciri2 orang yang overconfident, astaghfirullah...marila kita sama2 beristighfar dan mengingati Allah, sesungguhnya segala kelebihan yang diberikan hanyalah pinjaman - pergh, mesti ustazah S jeles! :P )

Ok, enough of naik-lif-tekan-sendiri moments...

On Sunday, my duty was to receive payment of fees from students. To be honest, this was the most difficult task I've ever done since I joined this place. This is because not only I had to collect money from the students, but I also had to explain why they have to pay such amount and if they didn't bring enough money, I had to decide which fee they have to pay first. Itu tak masuk lagi kena interrogate pasal amount dalam surat tawaran lain, amount bila dah datang lain. Adoi, cik yah karipap pusing, bukan gua la yang issue surat tawaran tu, lu pun tak baca surat tawaran tu elok2. Kan dia cakap itu yuran pengajian je, hostel semua belum kira lagi. tapi skolah ni pun confusing gak, cuba la go straight and don't belok2. ni orang yang call mmg dapat la extra info, tapi orang yang just baca surat korang and hantar kad jawapan (tapi tak call untuk 'further information') datang dengan different expectations. sakit hati plak aku yang terpaksa terlibat dengan salah faham ni. nasib baik takde kusi meja kena baling kat kitorang. yang lagi best tu ade gak beberapa pak akob juling air dan cik bedah banyak songeh yang ingat kitorang2 ni kerani cabuk, siap nak tunjuk tere cakap english ala2 powderful lagi tu. wei kerani cabuk pun at least we know our job well and we tried to give our very best to accommodate to your needs tau tak. adoi letih sebenarnya layan karenah manusia ni tapi it's a good experience to help you understand humans better :D. bak kata pakcik angkat gua si Pope tu, nak faham manusia bukan dengan cara study yang mencipta, tapi study la manusia tu sendiri...

***

Today, I am back at the office, enjoying the semester break that will last for less than a week.

Next week, we are going back to the classrooms and become the shepherds again.

Series of hap-pening-s

Students are still on semester break...

I have yet to have a real break.

First week of holidays, I attended KKB Sports Week. I took care of the futsol team, but I played netball for the preliminary round. The good news is I did not injure anybody and the bad new is we did not win even a match. Futsol, however, was much more interesting. In all the three games that we played (I mean my 'kids'), we managed to maintain the 'Seri' position. We did not score any goal nor did we allow our opponents to 'bolos' our 'gawang'. Yet, those results were not good enough to qualify us to the quater finals hahahaha. Train harder lah for next year...Great fun, but sakit hati because of the lousy management of our own 'sports dept'.

The week after KKB Sports Week, I was forced to attend a quality teaching technique seminar with another 19 'sukarelawanpaksa'. It was quite interesting because before this nobody had ever taught us how to do a proper lesson plan and how to design exam paper. Good experience, new 'discoveries'.

Two weeks ago, I just came back from Perak. There was a workshop for next semester subjects. Most of the time I was the 'chauffer' but I did attend two classes and made new 'contacts' (not with aliens though). On the way back to K.L, we made a short trip to Cameron Highland. I've been there quite a few times, but that was years ago. It felt great to be able to 'hike' up Cameron with my mom's Spacegear, but the 'climbing' down was even better! Great experience, improved my driving skills hahaha...

Last week, I attended an interview at Mahkamah Jalan Duta. It's actually a typing test because they have an opening for 'transcriber'. When I did a few typing test online (www.typingtest.com), my average speed was 47-54 w.p.m, but when I was asked to complete a task within 6 minutes, I only managed to complete it on the 7th minute! I***n finished on the dot, but she forgot to inform the invigilator. She wrote 10 mins on I***n's evaluation form...Kesian dia! Mahkamah - good view...many, many people in black and white, felt like watching an old film.

This week I am supposed to attend two interviews. Both on the same day, one in the morning, the other in the afternoon. However, on Monday evening, a late grandfather's brother passed away and we went to Perak to pay him the last 'right'. Today, I only attended one of the interviews, and I decided to withdraw my application from both. After doing some quick calculation, the offer of the morning session interview is not 'sufficient' and the interviewer did not like the way I dressed - "are you comfortable in business attire" - wei, i've already dressed up (Bro Luq would have told him - "She's already in her party suit!"). The other company on the other hand is too far from my home and makes travelling difficult - not good for my dissertation.

Today only ah I could find time to sit in front of this pc and blog about almost everything. Now I am sleepy and I think I ought to go to bed...

Good night people!

Salam alaikum

Mama, I love you...

To my dearest mama,

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Kau adalah darahku
Kau adalah jantungku
Kau adalah hidupku
Lengkapi diriku
You taught me everything
And everything you've given me
I always keep it inside
You're the driving force in my life
There isn't anything
Or anyone I can't be
And it just wouldn't feel right
If I didn't have you by my side

Disetiap langkahku
Kukan slalu memikirkan dirimu
Tak bisa kubayangkan hidupku tanpa cintamu
You were there for me to love and care for me
When skies were grey
Whenever I was down
You were always there to comfort me
And no one else can be what you have been to me
Oh sayangku, kau begitu
Sempurna... Sempurna...

Mama, mama you know I love you
Oh you know I love you
Mama, mama youre the queen of my heart
Your love is like
Tears from the stars
Mama, I just want you to know
Lovin you is like food to my soul
Kau begitu sempurna
Dimataku kau begitu indah
Kau membuat diriku akan slalu memujimu

Youre always down for me
Have always been around for me even when I was bad
You showed me right from my wrong
Yes you did
And you took up for me
When everyone was downin me
You always did understand
You gave me strength to go on
Kau genggam tanganku
Saat diriku lemah dan terjatuh
Kau bisikkan kata dan hapus semua sesalku

There was so many times
Looking back when I was so afraid
And then you come to me
And say to me I can face anything
And no one else can do
What you have done for me
Janganlah kau tinggalkan diriku
Takkan mampu menghadapi semua
Hanya bersamamu ku akan bisa

Kau adalah darahku
Mama, mama you know I love you
Kau adalah jantungku
Mama, mama youre the queen of my heart
Kau adalah hidupku
Lengkapi diriku
Oh sayangku, kau begitu
Sempurna... Sempurna...

Playing with the lyrics from Andra & The Back Bone's Sempurna and Boys II Men's Song for Mama.

Song lyrics | Sempurna lyrics

Song lyrics | A Song For Mama lyrics

A personal note for a dear 'HER'

Dear ...,

I no longer know how to properly address you, not because I have lost the respect for you nor do I have forgotten about you.

You were born the same year as Siti Nurhaliza, and you got hooked just a few months ahead of her. Your wedding was rather an elaborated occasion, we chose multicolour as the theme for your dress, for your canopy, for your bedroom, for your everything. We had a grand celebration that lasted for three days.

Although there were many who disagreed with your choice of man, we braved through the all the negative voices and assumptions believing that you fully understand the responsibilities that come after tying up two hearts in a matrimonial oath.

I still believe that you do understand your responsibilities as a wife, but I guess, other than that, you are very much clueless.

It is painful to see someone you love turning away from you and became a complete stranger... But if this is the path that you have chosen, I have nothing much left to say as I have said too many things hurtful not only to you but to myself even.

Finally, I just want to wish you a happy birthday and I pray that you have a happy life wherever you are.



Love,

-your-humble-critic-

Zulfikar dalam kenangan...

Last night, at about 7.40pm, I received a text message from one of my ex-students, Opie. I taught his class Prep English last semester. He told me that an ex-student of mine, Zulfikar had passed away at 7pm. I was quite confused at first because I can't recall which 'face' belongs to Zulfikar. That night before I went to bed, I tried to recall all the faces that were in my class last semester. I was rather shocked when I finally managed to remember his face.

Zulfikar was perhaps one of the most courteous students I ever had. He always offered his help to carry the radio and the textbooks. As far as my memory stretched back, I can't recall him being absent from my class. He was not a talkative person but he always participated in my class and when he was asked questions or asked to perform certain tasks, he'd do it straight away. I am not trying to paint a pretty picture of him because he's no longer with us, but he was indeed a good student and had never caused any problem to me.

He will definitely be missed by all of us at the Kolej and may Allah bestow His blessings upon him and place him among solehin. Ameen.

Cerita...

I had been busy for the past three weeks; completing and submitting two assignments, invigilating and sitting for exams, designing syllabus for the English short course, conducting it (together with my colleagues) and going back and forth to Melaka twice (10 days difference between the first and second trip). Very extremely tiring...

***

The mockteaching went well I guess, although the panel was not really paying attention to us when we did our presentation, perhaps they wanted to provoke us in a 'good' sense. The interview was quite good but I hate the fact that I had to wait for almost 2 hours and the interview was less than 10 minutes.

During my trip to Melaka, my friend, I***n and I went to Tg. Bidara. It was blazing hot but we had fun walking along the beach and kicking the wave 'bubbles'. There were many kera running about so after half an hour we decided to go back.

***

We conducted a short course for English at IPD Sentul. At first, we felt nervous and uneasy because we had never dealt with police, ini pulak nak mengajar derang, pergh seram babe! On our first day, we were welcomed by a Sub-Inspector (S.I), he looked like a very serious man, but in the class he is very sporting and active.

That 3-day-experience changed my perception towards police in general. I had always thought they are very stern, uncompromising and unfriendly. On the first day, kak Byn and I had lunch with the OCPD and he was very friendly and he has this fatherly tone in his voice when he advised us about life. The ladies (especially kak Ru***z** and Puan G***h) were also nice towards us and addressed us as Puan to show respect. I guess the Malay saying is very true indeed, tak kenal maka tak cinta. But don't worry, gua tak tangkap cintan pun dengan enchek2 polis tu. Lagipun all of them behaved well lah towards us, very respectful and it made our work a lot easier.

Walaupun most of them cannot communicate well in English, but they were very interested to learn. And if you were to compare them with my students, their determination is far better than the students. I had great fun teaching them and sharing whatever I can with them. I am also grateful that I have kak Byn to conduct the course with me. Together we managed to overcome our fear and nervousness.

During the closing ceremony, the M.C (one of the participants, a detective-sargeant) and the S.I spoke fully in English. It was very interesting to see how they pronounced the words and struggled to show to the OCPD that they had really paid attention in class and I personally am very proud of them and the rest of the class.

Thank you IPD Sentul for the memorable experience.

***

Last night, I checked the UM's Augustan website. My lecturer added one mark for my term paper, alhamdulillah.

***

Need to log off now, I am going jalan2 with my colleagues...hari jumaat adalah hari wanita se-Malaysia! hehehehe

***

Salam alaikum.

Have a good weekend people!

It's over...

Exam lah...

Pergh, seriously it's not easy to juggle time between work and studies. Moreover, I am not the very rajin type, but Alhamdulillah, I managed to finish all my courses and now I am moving onto the even bigger task - the dissertation. At least I don't have to attend classes anymore, I would still have to meet my supervisor every now and then, but it's not on weekly basis - so it's not that bad lah.

I sat for my final two papers yesterday. Augustan was difficult and for the past four days I devoted my free time to read about the social setting, the literary scene, Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel, Pope's Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot, Essay on Criticism and Sterne's Tristram Shandy. Two days before the exam I got my marks for the term paper - 12/20, very, very upsetting and the comment that came with it was even more 'damaging'! (your essay sounds superficial, you did not analyse much, you only provided explanation) I was so demotivated and I had not only to struggle with time, but also with my mixed emotions. I wrote six pages to answer the question on the literary form of Augustan period and I kept thinking whether I've written enough information so as not to sound superficial... Now I just couldn't be bothered because it is over! But I do hope I could at least get a B+ for it!

As for my dissertation, I'm thinking of working on either one of these:

1) war poetry, focusing on the vivid images of sufferings (esp. at the battlefield - physically and mentally) portrayed in Wilfred Owen's poetry.

2) epic theatre - erm, no idea yet

3) absurd theatre - absence of villain and villainy...

But, as usual, there's a lot more to read before deciding...

***

Goodnight people!

Esok kerja!

The fish and the jury - pics

The jury and the fish

Yesterday I received a call from my instructor asking me to attend a tourney, not as a participant (as it had been for the past few years), but as a refree/judge. I had some problems because I wasn't sure where did I campak my dark blue trousers and my white shirt, I can't even remember whether I've given away my white sneakers or not. So last night, I had to find everything I need for today.

***

This morning I picked up Susan from her house at around 830am and went to USJ. I felt a bit awkward walking towards the competition arena because I haven't been 'near' any martial arts for quite some time. Yes working and studying at the same time limits my activity. And also it's funny going to a competition as a jury.

After a very very long wait, the first events of the day started simultaneously at six different rings. I was the second judge for boys pattern event under 17 (white - red black) and girls' pattern under 17 (red - red black). I didn't have many qualms about my chief judge except that I didn't know he's actually teaching TKD at my college, no wonder he looked so familiar - and he's quite talkative too. Fyi, talkative guy really puts me off lah walaupun 'enchek' itu agak hensem, jap2 memang hensem :P . There's another lady judge (she's a lot younger than me I think, and a first degree black belt) sitting on Mr.A's left.

When we were judging the red - red black ladies, we had to do two rounds to determine first to third placing. Unfortunately, we still had a tie for the 1st and 2nd spot, and the 3rd and fourth spot. So we did a 'kalah mati' evaluation, i.e. no mark is given to the contestant, but if we prefer the person on the left, we'll raise our left hand, if on the right, then right lah angkat. Unfortunately, the candidates for 3rd and 4th placing actually deserves (I think) to be gold and silver medallist. Mr. A also agree, but the marks that we gave were not sufficient to make them compete for 1st and 2nd placing. So I curi2 tengok the score sheet of the lady, mak aih, bias babe!!!! She gave 6 for the girl who didn't even have power in her pattern and who stayed too long from one movement to the other. I was damned angry, so I said to Mr. A,

"Budak-budak ni cam tak deserve je nak compete no. 1 and 2. Yang dua orang tadi tu better, camne ek"

Mr. A said, "as much as I agree with you, the marks prohibits us from doing so, cannot do anything la".

Adoi, kesian betul budak yang dapat no. 3 dan 4 tu, now I know lah, even though you try to be fair, you really can't 'control' the way people judge and give points. Tapi betul la aku cakap budak 1st dan tu memang tak reti judge, (ceh cam aku bagus sangat), erm...nak wat camne, nilah nasib kan...

***
During the lunch break, I went down to the 1st floor. There I saw two pools full of small fish (macam ikan guppy) and two man were soaking their feet in the water and allowing the fish to bite them. I was very curious so I asked the towkey what were they doing and he told me it's actually a treatment for feet. The fish will eat up the dry skin and dead cells. I remember reading an article in NST not long ago about this kind of treatment, tapi if I'm not mistaken the writer went for this treatment somewhere outside Malaysia. My curiosity forced me to experience this out-of-the-ordinary treatment so I went to the pool and put my legs into it. Mak aih punya ramai lagi ikan datang kat kaki aku sebab aku sorang je duduk kat pool tu, jadi lauk babe! Geli je kena gigit2 dengan ikan tu, but because my right foot has a wound that is recovering, the fish attack there. Actually luka ni tak sakit tapi bila ikan2 tu gigit dia cam pedih2 sket la. After half an hour, I pulled my legs out of the water, lenguh dah duduk situ (lagi satu sebab there were too many people watching, memang la tak sexy sbb ankle and below je nampak, tapi tak selesa la, rasa cam bahan pameran lak). My wound bled a little, I was quite 'shocked' jugak la... But, my wound was clean you know and after wiping the blood, it looked as though it has healed.

I'll post a picture of me allowing the fish to eat my feet later...

For now, have a goodnight and a good weekend people.