"The Secret"

Tadi terjumpa M**a online. Sembang2 dengan dia pasal dissertation. Member tu kat oversea, dapat research grant. Tengah mengerjakan otot2 otak dia untuk siapkan journal article. I asked her how to motivate myself to write my dissertation and she told me about "The Secret" - it's a book, but seriously, I had never heard about it until M**a mentioned it.

So, in this book, it tells the readers to focus on our goals and aims. E.g. My short-term goal is to submit my dissertation by September. So I have to focus on this goal, and 'imagine' that I've already submitted it. By doing so, I am 'expected' to be motivated by the 'imagination'. Aku rasa tak silap aku itulah maksud M**a (we 'went missing' during the conversation). Tapi sekarang nilah kan, kalau aku 'imagine' that I've already submitted the dissertation - the lurking danger is - aku akan buat selamba ya-pa-pa la sampai September nanti. Bila Mr.L*** soh buat submission, habis aku!!

Erm, mungkin aku kot silap paham pe M**a cakap. Maybe what she was trying to say is - always practice positive self-talk. Maksudnya, bercakap la perkara2 positif pada diri sendiri, contohnya: MALAYSIA BOLEH! hehehehe... ok2, serius sket... contohnya: I CAN COMPLETE THIS DISSERTATION BY SEPTEMBER. I WILL SUBMIT MY DISSERTATION BY SEPTEMBER. I WILL COMPLETE MY MA THIS YEAR!!!

***

Yeayyyy, alhamdulillah...thank you M**a for the motivational tips. Sekarang aku sambung analysis aku ye.

Goodnight people and have a good weekend!

Salam alaikum

Silly me!

Oh ya.. I did a rather stupid thing just now.

I shouldn't have done it, but I don't know lah...it proves that i'm just a human! a rather weak one! and i really hate it as a matter of fact!

why can't i just hate a person? why can't i just let it go and care less about it?why do i have to be 'silly'? what am i trying to prove?

adoi! really hate myself sometimes! especially now!

***

good night people!

A quickie..

I am currently blogging from the Univ's library. This is the first time ever I spent more than 30mins inside this building. Before, I had only set my foot here to renew my membership. It's not because I'm allergic to books and journals, but I'm not familiar with this place and I had once lost way while trying to search for a book. I couldn't find the thing that they call the STACKS and I was stuck at the REFERENCE ONLY section. It was tormenting because the place was very creepy and silence drained my happy thoughts (eih, ni salah cerita ni...itu Harry Potter and the dementors). Anyway, I just don't like this place because it's very unfriendly unlike my other Univ's library. Tapi tak kisahlah semua tu tak penting, because I AM CURRENTLY BLOGGING FROM ONE OF THE LABS INSIDE THE CREEPY BUILDING!

Earlier, Y*n* J** helped me to find my way to the STACKS (dia lagi!) at level two and half (kan mcm Harry Potter lagi!) and theses at level two. This place is rather 'jumbled-up', it's like a maze or a labyrinth. Luckily I remembered to buy a bar of chocolate to bribe her to show me around this library hehehe (taklah, she's a nice girl and I'm indebted to her because she offered help to become the 'tourist guide'). After browsing through an M.A dissertation by a former student of NUS, I decided to go up to this lab and surf the internet. Y*n* J** had gone down to borrow some books and had probably gone back to her hostel.

***

Yesterday, I was almost fooled by a kid who pretended to know my schoolmates and 'invited' me to a very long conversation online. We exchanged phone numbers after I was really2 convinced that he's related to one of my best friends in school. And he said he's going to forward my number to her. The kid then phoned me and we chatted but things became 'funny' when he started asking about my job, the car I'm driving, my salary! my parents' name, my home address etc. Alhamdulillah, Allah protected me from succumbing to his scam. I didn't give the information that he asked and that made him upset. I got off the phone. Around 11pm, he texted me asking for a favour. He wanted to borrow some money from me. I said 'no' and ignored him. Alhamdulillah, he didn't call or text me anymore.

I just can't believe how he managed to get some background info about my schoolmate and my former school. Maybe he is related to my best friend, but uiiii scary babe!

Ij*** if you're reading this, when you come back next holiday, let's go and find this dude and belasah dia hahahaha!

Moral of the story: Don't risk giving your number to strangers even if he/she seems to 'know' you or your friends. Truth is liars are getting smarter these days!

Be cautious always and may Allah protect us all from harm and evil. Amin.

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!

Bring in the drums!

and let's celebrate!

winning is just a part of the larger things.

if thou do good throughout the term, we would then prosper and thou would have a greater celebration coming thy way.

real virtuouso for the real people!

Drumming the election?

The most important event of the day is -- casting thy votes, and me being a "rekod tidak dijumpai" missed the fun of being part of the head and heartache causing decision making session (ha amek ko! cuba try kasi paham hahaha). I wonder what was I categorized as record not found when I have already registered months ago. Pelik...

***

Actually I just came from the drum class. Today I learned three more complicated beats. Each time I went to the class and played the drums, when I came back home I often wished somebody would surprise me with a drum set. Unfortunately, it has yet to happen to this day! It's quite hard to practice when you don't have your own set. If I don't practice, it would be harder to grasp new beats or techniques in the next class. At the moment, I use all sorts of things to practice. I have a pair of drum sticks (courtesy of the instructor -- no lah, he said complimentary upon registration hehehe), a fish bowl for a snare, three pillows for tom-toms, imaginary high hat and bass. At least they help me to practice the strokes minus the 'sound' -- or perhaps with very limited not-so-audible sound lah.

Today, I spent 1 hour beating the drums, the lesson made my thumbs and forefingers sore, but I really enjoyed it... Hmm, is there anybody who wants to sell his/her drum set at RM700?

Erm...

***

Anxious to wait for the 'result' -- hope it's a good one ;)

Welcome...

The latest addition to the Sevenlords

Ayeshah Nur Awan

(19 DEcEmber 2007)

Congrats to bhaiya and kak i**n

Quick update!

1) Before the beginning of the new term, I've installed a 'plasma TV' near my workstation





2) A few days before the students 'came' back for the new semester, we at DEL had an 'accident' involving the fire extinguisher. Kak I*h* almost had an asthma attack...huahuahua...courtesy of me and kak N*qu*.

3) During the orientation, the students were 'exposed' to the CORRECT way of putting out a fire

4) This is what you get for playing with fire, a sore blistering thumb!! GSR (or was it GSM or GMS ntah lah) dressing gone all wrong, thanks to the inexperience nurse who applied to extremely hot substance onto my thumb and wrapping it kaw2 so that I couldn't take off the bandage. GILA!

5) I am no Kelantanese...so the idea of eating bubur manis with squid in it was not a pretty picture to me. However, when kak N***L gave me this delicacy for buka puasa, I tried it out of curiosity and I enjoyed it! ;)

6) Two weeks ago, I fell on my right knee at the Faculty parking lot. I had a few cuts on my knee and my pants was torn. I had to attend the class still because I had a presentation for my Renaissance class. It felt awkward having people staring at your 'bloody' and torn pants...but I thought it was a good presentation ^__^ and I was happy presenting my paper.

7) One of my students yelled at me in front of her coursemates when I asked a simple question to her, "S, did you attend my class yesterday?" - then she went missing for next four classes. Yesterday she came to my class and acted as though nothing had happened. Who the hell she think she is? Silap la ko ingat aku takut dengan ko. I've already sent her parents the 1st 'love' letter hahahahaha. I am going to be reasonable and unbias when evaluating her participation in class, but I am also going to ignore her. I am not going to call her name in my class, and I am going to pretend that she does not exist in my class. However, her presentation, her carry mark etc. - I will remain unbias and fair (hahaha...at least I will try hahahaha...neah, I'm not gonna stain my hands with cheap dirty immoral tricks :P )

Ok people, I really need to go to bed now...

Goodnight! Salam alaikum

A trip south - part II

This is the long awaited entry haha... I've been rather busy since the beginning of the new term at KU and UM. I'm teaching three classes and I'm sitting for three papers this semester...Busy, very very busy.

Here are some photos taken during my journey south to Segamat...Well, actually, I have (sort of) forgotten what I had planned to blog for this second part, so hopefully the pictures would be sufficient story-tellers ^__^.

Cendol near Nirwana Supermarket

When the sun is burning at 34degree celcius, cendol definitely is a bliss

Had to stop by the roadside to 'cover' the things we had on the back of the truck...

hari mau hujan daa..and the interesting thing is..this sign is situated next to a grave yard..basically we stopped at the-not-so-popular-tourist-spot hahaha

Dragon fruit a.k.a Pita berry
'born and bred' in Terachi

King of fruits... D U R I A N
The very 1st batch of the season (according to the orchard owner)

Petai
I have yet to try them

Interview

I had an interview at a college in K.L last Thursday. This college is a well-recognized college and they have many branches. They also have a very interesting salary increment scheme with lots of benefits and allowances.

I am not prepared to leave the college I'm currently teaching at nor do I want to stay there. Indecision is a suicide tool.

A perfect job for me is a job that allows me to do what I like and at the same time being paid well for it. I like teaching at K* but I need security i.e. I need enough money to finance my studies and my other expenditures. Now I'm on the hunt...

***

Tips for attending an interview:

Do beforehand:

- confirm the date, time and place with the interviewer
- confirm your attendance at least 3 days earlier. if something comes up, ask the interviewer to reschedule. some are reluctant to do so as they believe 'if you want the job, you have to MAKE TIME for it' - well I did get this kind of reply when I asked for reschedule, if they refuse, just apologise for the inconvenience and start looking for a new job ^__^.
- survey the place of interview at least 1-2 days earlier so that you know the possible and the fastest routes that will take you there.
- before applying for a job, you ought to read on the company's background and before the day of the interview refresh your memory by reading or finding extra info about the company.
- make copies of your original certificates as well as your resume. if you apply through online jobrecruiter, you are strongly recommended to bring the photostated copies as well as the original certificates on the day of interview. Arrange your certificates (according to the latest acquired) in a clear folder to make browsing easier.
- choose the right clothes. avoid striking and dark colours. if you're wearing a dark bottom, find something light for the top. if you intend to wear baju kurung, avoid wearing those with too many flowers, if possible wear abstract pattern, soft/pastel colours. avoid wearing clothes that shout 'look at me!'. Make sure the clothes are pressed. Wear suitable shoes, never wear sandals or flip flops.

On the day:

- Rise early in the morning.
- Take a shower!! Use deo and if you want to, put on some make up (minimal) and some perfume. Do not suffocate the interviewers with your overdose stinging perfume and do not give them a heart attack with your clown-like make up.
- Have some breakfast or lunch (depending on your interview session). Do not go with an empty stomach. I had my tummy parroting the Kombo RTM when I attended the interview last Thursday. I was lucky I sat about 1 metre away from the interviewers.
- Make sure you have the folder that holds your certificates (original and photostated) and your resume in your hands before leaving the house.
- Be at the interview location at least 20mins earlier so that you have some time to go to the gents/ladies to check on your appearance and fill what ever forms that they ask you to fill in.
- Sit down at the designated waiting area and be alert so that you'd hear when your name is called.
- Do not make repetitive movements like overtly clinching your fists, or moving your body forwad and backward, you should hide your nervousness.
- Smile a lot (when necessary).
- Walk into the interview room with confidence and not with a 'big head' and ballooned ego.
- Sit properly and imagine your mak mentua (mother-in-law) is observing you hahaha...just kidding. If there's a table in front of you, do not put your hands on it, but you can put your file/folder on it. If there's no table, hold the folder on your lap, and put your handbag on the floor, near to your chair.
- Do not argue with and be rude to the interviewers but when they 'provoke' you with funny2 questions, calm down and reply in the best manner. Remember, always remain calm and relaxed. They just want to see whether you are able to handle pressure and creative at solving 'problems' that they throw at you.
- Always be prepared to ask a question e.g. what are my chances of getting this job? how/when will i be notified of the outcome of this interview? or ask something about the company. jangan sembrono je, prepare...prepare...prepare!
- At the end of the interview, thank the interviewers and don't forget to take back your file/folder and/or your handbag.

Note: Some headhunters suggest that you call the company a week after the interview to find out the outcome of it. If they tell you, they'll notify you later, do not press on.

All the best for those who are in the hunt!

Enjoy your weekend people!

Office 101

It's been more than a year. And I've learned two three or more things at the office. So here's some tips for 'beginners'. Today's topic is b*tch*ng the b*tch.

The more subtle word would be "gossiping" about the gedikz. Yes, I am writing this in response of what has recently happened at our office. There's one guy lecturer who had just joined us earlier this semester. And like other typical love stories, there ought to be a heroine. They found their love when they started working with each other at the same department. Typical huh?

Well, actually I have nothing against them...but B is making everybody sick with her gedikz attitude. When I first get to know her, she's the kind who'd simply yell at you even when she meant to just say hi. And she's very popular at our office because of her all-the-time-high-pitched-voice. I can't stand her attitude because she's nosy and if you go to her department, instead of politely saying "How may I help you?" she'd yell "Ha ko nak ape?" - I tell you ah this is no friendly yelling2 thing tau. This is more like mak tiri nak dera anak angkat bapa sedara adik ipar ayah ko. Understand?

I don't know when did their love start to spring, but one thing I know for sure, the students also know about this and two of my students who came to register for MUET the other day said

"Betul ke miss, Sir B couple dengan lecturer yang gedik tu ke, yang satu department tu?"

"Ish...saya tak amek tau sal derang"

"Yelah miss, semua orang tau...menyampah @#$%^&*!!!"

"Alah, korang jeles je ni...(cover line baik punya, yerla jaga air muka, air tangan, air mata lecturer tu kan)"

- - -

Tips for today:

- if u don't want people to bitch gossip about you, don't be the bitch-able factor gossip magnet.
- if u want to have an intimate relationship with ur officemate, u need not make others puke. learn to refrain urself from acting gedik-ly.
- understand that some people might be jealous, but most of us are just uncomfortable with you people being overtly romantic and to a certain extent it's unnecessary (show off!)

- - -

Goodnight people, and have a good weekend!

LRT ride

Had to take the LRT to get to work today.

Dejavu weih!!! Had to stand beside a very tall and huge guy. Imagine my head was parallel to his shoulders. Sekarang adik2, it's time for the guessing game. Guess where my face was... bak kata Ajis "Ambi Pur direct" - nauzubillah, the B.O was unbearable. The coach was packed with people so I couldn't move away from him. About 20 mins later he reached his destination and walked out of the coach. Wah legaaaa... Tarik nafas dalam-dalam. Note to all LRT (public transport) users, if possible please do not board the train unless you've put on some deo. Malaysia is getting hotter...so err, be compassionate to others.

There were lesser people on board after the KLCC stop. So I took some pictures along the way...

Sun thru the 'tinted' window

A mosque and a community centre perhaps

The so-called haunted stop (under construction still)

Attention to all passengers do not jump on the track when the train is approaching. Go and create murder scene somewhere else

Note: 'Tis not a control tower, nor is it the ET thingy. Love the perfect blue sky